Six years later
by Strager
Summary: What if, in Cinderella III when she is being deported by her stepmother, she really left. The prince didn't make it to the harbor in time and Cinderella sailed away in some far away land. Now six years later she returns but not as the same girl. Cind/OC
1. Prologue

A/N: So, this fic is based on Cinderella III. The scene where Cinderella steps into the ship has always wormed its self into my mind every now and then. What if she would have left? Nobody has ever written about it so I decided to write it if only to see where this would go from there. Now about the story's names. As I didn't find the name of the kingdom where Cinderella lived, I decided to pretend that it would be called Elethia. As for the Princes name I haven't yet to figure out if I should give him a proper name. Charming sounds pretty boring to me. If you got any ideas, please tell. If the story does as I say, the Prince doesn't appear until chapter two or three.

**Prologue**

Rella watched the horizon as the ship detached from the pier. She would have never thought of going back. It was strange, scary and at the same time she sort of wanted to know what had happened at her previous homeland. It had been six years ago when her stepmother Lady Tremaine had arranged her deportation from Elethia.

That day had been one of the most miserable ones in her life. It had been at an end of the summer and the weather had been chilly at nights and stormy. The several storms along the way had scared the hell out of her. She hadn't been in a ship since then and she was nervous. Her two escort's orders had been to leave her into the farthest kingdom where the ship would sail which happened to be the southern empire of Dherr'eshaan. It had been scary too, step into a foreign land she had only heard few times as a child and been left there to manage on her own. Her escorts had left her in the harbor where she had eventually left to find a place to sleep although she had been very uncertain how she could do that since she hadn't had any money with her. She had been very noticeable with her pale northern looks and different clothing. The southern people dressed almost all in colorful clothes and all women wore headwear, usually a pillbox hat with a scarf that covered their hair and necks. She had been very different. She had wandered around the city all day unable to find a place that would take her in, mostly because of her lack of knowledge of their language.

But someone in the high heavens must have pitied her since after darkness had fell she was saved from robbers by a dherr'eshaanian merchant who luckily knew how to speak her language. He took her in and as a part of his family and educated her. In the three first years in that country she had learned its language, customs and become a talented merchant herself and helped the Behren family as the best as she could. Then in the second year in her new homeland she had met Falad Ir'd'aran, a young merchant from a noble family. They had cooperated with each other when their families had made business and fell in love. The wedding had been kept a year ago.

The sails banged as the wind seized them and the ship started moving faster towards north. Rella turned to look the city of Hald'aan for the last time in a long time. This trip was going to take awhile she knew. Falad's family was fairly close to the empyreal family and they had gotten a very heavy request that they would deal some trading treaties with the elethians. And as the youngest of his family, Falad had been picked out for the task. Rella had been very shaken when Falad had told her about the task. Falad knew of her past and had been concerned if she would have wanted to come with him. But Rella had decided to travel with him. First of all because she knew Falad wanted her to come and she wanted to go with him and second of all, maybe it was time to face her past. So that she could close that part of her life into the past where it belonged, where it wouldn't haunt her every time she heard news from Elethia.

She felt someone coming behind her and wrapping warm, strong arms around her. "Is everything alright, my beloved?" the familiar voice of Falad saying worriedly.

Rella smiled and nodded. "Yes, for the moment at least."

"Good. But you must tell me at once if something is wrong, please?" Falad said and Rella shifted a bit to turn and look at him. He was a fairly handsome man with aristocratic features. He had the characteristic coloring of his people, dark coffee-colored skin, dark brown, almost black eyes and black hair that reached to his shoulders. He was also wearing a pillbox hat with a scarf, it was a custom for the men to wear headwear after they married. Women wore it all the time in public. Sometimes Rella felt herself like a ghost among these colorful people, but Falad always assured her that she was the most beautiful woman in Dherr'eshaan.

Rella smiled. "Don't worry, I will."

Falad smiled at her and hugged her tighter. "Come, we haven't eaten anything since breakfast."

He moved to untangle himself and took Rella's hand. They headed down to their cabin and talked about trivial things. Rella let herself relax, she wouldn't need to worry anything yet. Only when they would arrive to Elethia.


	2. Chapter 1

**A/N: **Hey! Sorry it took so long to update, but I have my slow season going. Thank you for all of the reviews (this story has gotten more reviews than my other stories combined!) and thank you for pointing out that little slip CocoRocks and thank you for the name suggestion FlutePower, I'm going to think about it although it most likely going to be the princes name :) My head is strangely completely empty when I think about him. Okay, on to the story. Hope you like it even though much doesn't happen in this chapter.

1.

_Cinderella followed her savior through the heavy wooden door to a beautiful entrance hall. Sand colored walls and warm shades of orange made the room very friendly. This was a wealthy home she could see. She turned her gaze towards the man, who was hollering something in his own language. He was middle-aged and quite tall, one of the tallest men Cinderella had ever seen. He had a brown skin, black hair and beard and a face that seemed to smile often. His dark brown eyes appeared to twinkle cheerfully like he knew some grand joke that no one else had ever heard of. _

_The man turned to look her. "This way, my dear", he said in a deep, heavily accented voice."Let's get you some better clothes."_

_Cinderella nodded carefully and followed him upstairs. He led her into a comfortable looking room where a young maid was waiting with neatly folded clothes in her arms. The man left Cinderella in the room and the young woman put the new clothes into a nearby table and motioned Cinderella to come closer. _

_Cinderella smiled uncertainly and was relieved when the smile was returned. The maid helped her undress and then dress the new clothes on. After she was done, the maid motioned Cinderella to follow and lead her to another room, this one bigger than the previous. It seemed some sort of office. The man who had brought her here was sitting behind the large wooden desk and raised his head hearing them enter. _

_He smiled warmly and said something to the maid who left the room. _

"_Please, sit", he said and pointed to a chair in front of the table across from him. "Are you hungry?" he asked as Cinderella sat now pointing a tray filled with fruits, biscuits and other small snacks. Cinderella nodded and moved to take a few fruits and biscuits nibbling them slowly. _

"_Now, my name is Yari Behren and I am a merchant and mostly dealing with the elethians in case you were wondering how I know your language", Mr. Behren started crossing his hands on the table in front of him. "As I said before, I have no intention to hurt you. You are safe here."_

_Cinderella nodded. "Thank you."_

_Mr. Behren smiled her warmly. "Then would you mind telling why you are here? With nothing, but your clothes on?"_

_Mr. Behren looked concerned. Cinderella bit her lip and looked at her hands in her lap. Why was he concerned? He didn't even know her. And probably wouldn't even want to if she would tell him how she had gotten in here in the first place. Magic wands, fairy godmothers and evil stepmothers didn't exactly sound very believable. But on the other hand, what did she had to lose? Making up another story wouldn't work very well, she had never been a very good liar._

_Cinderella sighed and started on her story. She told him everything from the beginning, of her family; her stepmother and two stepsisters; of the ball where she had gone with the Godmothers help, how she had fallen for the prince but had to leave at midnight. And how she had lost her glass shoe and how the prince had tried to find her by making every woman in the kingdom to try the shoe. At this point Mr. Behren looked at her amused and commented about the weird customs of her people. Cinderella had smiled and agreed. It was a little unusual. _

_She however sobered up quickly when she continued her story to the part where everything had gone wrong. When Stepmoter had gotten the Godmothers wand and made the shoe fit for Anastasia. And when she had tried to fix what had happened she had ended up deported. And that was how she had ended up in the alley where Mr. Behren had found her in trouble._

_Cinderella stared at her hands again finishing the story. shifted in his chair while pondering about the young woman's story. She hadn't had the easiest life. Mr. Behren wanted to help her, he knew what it was like, when life treated you unfairly. _

_He nodded to himself and looked at the girl. "Let's see what I can do to help you. I'm sure I can think of something."_

_Cinderella raised her head surprised and stared at Mr. Behren with wide eyes._

_He smiled amused at her surprise. "Now, what is your name? You haven't yet told it."_

"_I'm –", Cinderella stopped. She didn't want to be Cinderella anymore. That name reminded her of so many bad times. In here she wanted to start over, become something else than a miserable little girl treated like a slave. She straightened her shoulders and looked Mr. Behren straight to the eyes. "I am Rella."_

…

Rella was standing at the door of their cabin wringing her dress sleeves slowly. She was nervous. They were just docking to the pier in the harbor of Elethia's capital city. This was the same place she had left six years ago. No, not left, sent away. She wasn't sure how well she would take it, seeing all the familiar streets and buildings. She might even recognize some of the city's people. She had run many errands for her stepsisters and stepmother and had gotten to know many people. Rella doubted however that any of them would recognize her anymore. She would look very foreign to them she supposed.

The door opened and Rella found herself face to face with Falad. He raised his eyebrow and Rella smiled reassuringly to him. "I'm alright, just a little nervous."

Falad nodded. "Good. Come, our ride has arrived."

Falad offered his arm to Rella and she took it. "Our ride? I didn't know we would have one."

"The ambassador of Derr'eshaan has arranged it. Our quarters are in his house", Falad explained.

Rella looked at her husband surprised. She didn't remember hearing any of this. "Oh dear, I haven't been paying much attention, have I?"

Falad chuckled. "Well you've had lot in your mind."

Rella nodded in agreement and looked around her more closely. They were walking down to the pier and Rella wanted to see how much the harbor had changed since her departure. It had been ironically a cloudy and gloomy day then, like there would be starting a storm any minute. Today, however, was a very sunny day, the harbor was full of busy people and fishermen selling their days catch. There were merchants dealing with the captains, ships whose cargo was being unloaded and ships were coming and going in a quick pace.

Rella's eyes stopped to see a carriage which bore the seal of Derr'eshaan in its doors. That appeared to be their lift. Falad noticed the carriage at the same time and they headed to it. Their luggage was already loaded at the roof.

A lackey opened the door and Falad held out his hand to help Rella to the carriage. Rella seated herself comfortably next to the window and looked outside waiting for them to leave. Falad sat next to her and knocked the wall in front of them to signal the driver that they were ready to leave. The carriage jerked forward and started gradually moving in the cobblestone street to the center of the city.

Rella peeked out of the window and studied her old home. It hadn't changed much, people she had known were older and some new buildings had been built or old ones repaired. While they were moving Rella pointed various places she had visited to Falad who listened carefully. He had never been in Elethia before and he was most interested.

The journey wasn't awfully long and they reached their destination in no time. The area where all the ambassadorial houses were was unfamiliar to Rella as well and she stared at her surroundings observantly. The few dozen houses were all different architecture depending from which country the ambassador came, so when Rella and Falad stepped out of the carriage at the Embassy of Derr'eshaan they felt like had suddenly teleported themselves back to their homeland.

At the main doors they were met by the ambassador Garma himself. He was a mid-height, round man with enormous mustache and a very loud voice. He welcomed them to the embassy with open arms and made a servant show them their quarters before inviting them to dinner.

They ate and talked long into the night, the ambassador wanting to hear from his home and Falad and Rella needing to hear about Elethia. What they heard made Rella somewhat confused, she wasn't quite sure how she should feel. Apparently lady Tremaine still possessed the Godmothers wand and Anastasia had been married to the prince without any more complications once she was out of the pictures. What Drizella was up to, she didn't find out but she had a distinct feeling that she would. And now that she thought about it, she had never found out what had happened to the Godmother either.

Maybe, now that she was here again, she should find out.


	3. Chapter 2

A/N: Thank you for all of the reviews!

And here's the second chapter, hope you'll like it. Enjoy!

2.

Rella stretched happily while waking up next morning. The sun was low and few rays reached her face through a small crack in the curtains. She glanced at her husband's sleeping form and got up from the bed. She always woke up earlier than Falad, probably because of her past. But she also liked it. Everything was quiet and peaceful and fresh. The day had not yet send anything to complicate things.

Rella walked to the wardrobe and started rummaging through her dresses for today. She was feeling like green today, she decided as she held one of her green dresses in front of her. But a darker shade, Rella put the dress back in the wardrobe and took a dark green dress instead. Rella dressed and moved to the sitting room and smiled happily when she noticed that the other one of their two servants they had brought with them had made her breakfast. She sat down to eat and to think about the day.

They were going to the palace today after some circling around in town. Falad had said it would be nice to get to know this kingdom when Rella had suggested that they'd spend their morning that way. She wanted to see how the city had changed, if it had.

After she had eaten, she pulled out some papers and started to look through them while waiting for Falad to wake up. They were drafts of contracts and trade agreements which would be the goal of these negotiations. They were almost done, just in need of a little fine tuning.

Rella smiled to herself. It was peculiar, she would have never thought she would like forming contracts and agreements this much. Even though it had not been her own choice, she had always like cleaning and doing things with her hands. To switch from a work of a housemaid to writing complex bargains was a big change. But Rella liked it as much as she liked cleaning. She still sometimes rose up at the same time as the other maids in their house and helped them make breakfast. At first they had been very confused about it but eventually gotten used to it and even started to like it. When Falad had learned of it, he had been very confused as well, but decided to let her have her way. He very rarely could deny anything from Rella.

He was also very patient with her strange customs and her issues, a trait of which Rella was extremely grateful. She didn't know what she had done to deserve a husband like him. While he was stubborn as a mule he was also incredibly gentle and open minded, which was probably one reason why he never thought much of her own ways. He had a bit of a temper too, which had spooked the hell out of her the first few times he had exploded to something someone had done. But on a normal day when everything went as usual he was always calm and collected and took care of Rella more than anyone had ever done. It had been quite odd at first, but she got used to it and it just made her love him more every day.

Rella raised her head slightly when hearing movement from the broom. Falad had apparently finally woken. Rella reached the pot that was full of a hot drink they drank in Dherr'eshaan, they called it coffee. When she had tasted it for the first time she had almost spat it out immediately. It was horrible, she thought but her adopted sister, Nenya had showed her how to make it taste differently by adding lots of sugar and cream or milk and if preferred; some spices. When she had tasted that version it had been much better. Still it had never been her favorite drink, but Falad, he couldn't function at all in the mornings if he couldn't have his morning coffee. So, when Falad walked from their bedroom rubbing his eyes, Rella had a cup of coffee ready. She passed it to Falad as he sat down and Falad took a long swig of it before nodding his thanks to Rella.

After an hour in which Falad slowly woke up and ate his breakfast, they started to make plans on where Rella wanted to visit. Falad didn't care much since he would be happy to visit anywhere, but Rella wished to see few particular places. First she wanted to go and see the market place, she had known many of the sellers well. She also especially wished to see the baker, she and the baker's family had been very good friends.

She had thought about seeing the Tremaine Manor too. She just wasn't sure if she could do it. It would probably be good for her if she did, with closure and all, but what if they would see lady Tremaine or Drizella. Rella didn't think she could take that even though the odds of them recognizing her were extremely slim. It was eventually Falad who said that they should see how things went and if she felt after seeing everything else that she could do it, then they would. After a bit of hesitating Rella decided it was the best course of action and they made ready to leave. The ambassador had given them a permission to use anything in the house so they borrowed his carriages. When Rella watched the familiar yet changed scenery from the window of the carriage, she had a distinct feeling that this was going to be a tiring day.

…

Rella stood in front of the carriage and stared at the bakery. Things had been alright at the market place, if a bit different. Half of the sellers she had known had moved somewhere else but those who were still there had been happy to see her after surviving from a slight shock of how she had changed. Falad had also been happy to be there, it was different from the market places in Dherr'eshaan and he had thought it very interesting. What had been the most strange thing to him was the absence of the higher class in the market place. In their home, the nobles as well as merchants and riff raff shopped in the bazaars side by side. In here there didn't seem to be any nobles around. Rella had explained that the higher class mostly sent their servants to do the shopping for them, a market place was not a place for people of high rank as them. Falad had shook his head and muttered something about how they then knew what they wanted if they never saw what was on market? They had been a quite a sight in there.

Now they were going to the bakery, Falad was talking to the driver, telling him to wait until they were done. Rella glanced at him as he stepped next to her.

"Ready?" he asked.

"Yes, I just hope they'll recognize me", Rella answered.

Falad smiled reassuringly and offered his arm. Rella took his arm smiling back and they stepped into the building after Falad had opened the door. A small bell rang above the door. Rella looked around her studying the shop. It hadn't changed much. They had painted the walls with a warm rusty orange, but other than that, it was like it had been six years ago. It was _almost_ as if she had never left. The bakery smelled delicious, just baked bread and muffins. Falad was looking around interestedly and was looking at the cupcakes with little hungrily.

"What are those?"Falad asked.

Rella giggled. "Cupcakes."

"Are they good?"

"Yes", Rella said laughing some more. Falad had a big sweet tooth she had noticed.

"Well, why don't we buy some when we head out", he said.

Rella was about to retort when a friendly looking, plump woman appeared from the back. She was wearing a large apron that covered almost everything else she was wearing. She had a brown, slightly grey hair with brown eyes and she always smiled a lot. Or at least that was what Rella remembered about her. She had been like the mother she didn't have to her. She had a bright smile on her face although a bit confused perhaps. The bakery was also a place where the higher class rarely ventured.

"Good morning", the woman said.

"Good morning, Mrs. Lane", Rella said smiling hesitantly.

Mrs. Lane blinked several times and looked more closely at her. "I'm sorry, dear, but who…?"

"You probably don't remember me", Rella said. "I used to come here every time I was in town, but it has been six years. Lady Tremaine deported me."

Mrs. Lane's brow creased as she studied the young woman before her closely. After a few minutes her eyes widened.

"Ci- Cinderella? Oh Lord, is it really you?"

Rella smiled and nodded. "Although, I changed the name to Rella."

She missed the slight crease that appeared in Falad's forehead when he heard her previous name. Mrs. Lane looked at her tears forming in her eyes.

"Oh, dear. You have changed so much. I didn't recognize you at all", she said. "But you look amazing! What happened to you, we were so worried?"

"I ended up in Dherr'eshaan and got sort of adopted into a merchant family there", Rella said.

"Oh thank God, I was so afraid that you were in some dreadful place with nothing and no-one. I had nightmares about it", Mrs. Lane said and pulled Rella into a tight hug. Rella wrapped her arms around the short woman and breathed deeply. Mrs. Lane hadn't thought badly of her and it made her very happy. After a minute they pulled apart and Mrs. Lane noticed Falad, who was discretely moved further from the ladies and was still observing the baked goods.

Mrs. Lane leaned towards Rella and asked almost whispering: "And who is that gorgeous young man?"

Rella blushed slightly. "Um.. My husband."

Mrs. Lane's eyes widened. "Your husband!" she exclaimed. "That's it. You are coming with me to the back and have some tea while you are going to tell me everything."

She grabbed Rella by her hand and gestured Falad to come after them in a way that clearly stated that it would be better to do as she said. Falad looked at the older woman slightly warily and Rella giggled. Right now she was happy she had come here with Falad.

Very happy.

Perhaps she would meet the rest of her friends too at some point.


	4. Chapter 3

A/N: Sorry for taking long once again! Truly sorry.

Thank you for all of the reviews, I hope that you can bear with me and my slow pace. About the chapter, we finally meet the prince and because the deciding was so hard and, well royalties have long names right, I used most of the names you suggested :) Thank you!

On to the chapter, I hope you like it!

3.

"_You look confused, dear."_

"_How could the slipper fit Anastasia? _I_ danced with the prince! That was my slipper! Here, I have the other one, I'm the one he's looking for."_

"_You may have danced with him. You may have even thought it was love. But the slipper fits Anastasia and that's who he's marrying! Whatever you _think_ happened last night was a dream. I don't care where you go or what you do but you stay away from the palace. Stay away from the prince! Oh, and ah… clean up that broken glass."_

The words of lady Tremaine ran through her head as she remembered the last time she had been in the Manor, the place hadn't changed. That was when everything had gone wrong. It was hard to believe it had been six years since then. But in a way, what happened wasn't so bad after all. Yes, it had certainly felt like it when she had wandered in the city of Hald'aan alone, with nothing but her clothes on, but she had met wonderful people and gotten a new family, a proper family, thanks to the deportation. If she hadn't gone to that ship she would never have met Falad either. Sometimes she wondered if she would have then married the prince after all.

Rella watched through the window of the carriage and looked as the Manor changed smaller and smaller as they moved further from it. Their next stop would be the Castle. It was possibly as scary as the Manor. At least Anastasia would be there, possibly also Drizella and lady Tremaine. She didn't want to meet them. Well, she might manage with Anastasia, she was the most reasonable of the lot if asked her.

Rella was startled out of her musings as Falad touched her hand. She looked up to his face that gazed down at her looking puzzled.

"She called you Cinderella", Falad said. "Cinder… didn't it mean something in this language?"

Rella looked at her hands and nodded. "Ashes, embers."

Falad furrowed his brows. "But why would they call you that?"

Rella looked uneasily out of the window.

"Rella?" Falad asked worriedly and took her hands in his. "Please, tell me."

She bit her lip and sighed. "They… Before… When I was younger and smaller, they made me sleep in front of the fireplace and well… it's not the cleanest place and I was often covered in cinders. So they started calling me that. Cinderella", she shrugged. "I didn't mind, it wasn't so bad for a name."

"They made you sleep-", Falad couldn't continue.

"Hey", Rella said and stroked his cheek with her hand. "It's okay."

Falad looked at her incredulously.

"Really, Falad", Rella assured him. "It's not like I'm sleeping in cinders anymore, is it?"

""Well, no", Falad answered. "But why did they do that?"

Rella shrugged. "They didn't like me, I suppose."

Falad nodded frowning. He had known that Rella's family and she were in a really bad terms and that her stepmother had deported her, what he had never understood why, but that they had gone that far. There must have been something wrong with them. Rella was an amazing person, how could they not like her?

Rella smiled at him bravely and glanced outside the window again.

"Look, it's the Castle", Rella said.

Falad leaned forward and looked past Rella at the big structure with many towers and made of white stone. He tilted his head slightly.

"Hmh, I think the emperor's palace is nicer", he said.

Rella chuckled. "Yes, I guess it looks a bit warmer than this one."

Falad smiled at her. The carriage drove to the gate that was opened to them and continued to the stairs before the main door. Falad stepped down from the carriage and turned to give his hand to Rella who grabbed it smiling and stepped next to Falad. She stared at the stairs, she wasn't sure was she imagining it, but she felt that the stairs seemed longer and bigger than last time. As she watched them, they noticed a figure hurrying down towards them. They glanced at each other and decided to wait. The figure proved to be a dignified middle aged man with a slightly grayish hair. He was standing straight and bowed swiftly to them.

"Good afternoon, your grace", the man said. "I am Mr. Richardson, the butler of this Castle."

Falad and Rella nodded and gave their greetings. The butler looked at Rella.

"And who is the lady by your side, sir", he asked.

"My wife, Mr. Richardson", Falad answered.

Mr. Richardson blinked. "Ah, of course. My apologies, your grace."

Falad nodded and the butler asked them to follow him while muttering something about killing the messenger. Rella held in a laugh and focused on watching the corridors. Last time she had been here, it had been at the ball. It seemed that the soldiers hadn't changed. Wonder if they had moved there at all in six years? This time though they walked past the ballroom and the butler led them upstairs. They finally stopped in front of a double doors which the butler opened and stepped aside to let them in.

"Their graces lord Ir'd'aran and his wife lady Ir'd'aran", the butler announced.

Rella felt like blushing when she felt the eyes of everyone in the room in them, but she tried bravely hold it back. When they started walking along the red carpet towards the king, she studied her surroundings and people. She hadn't seen anyone she'd remember yet, except Prudence, she thought as she noticed her by a side door. The prince wasn't here apparently, at least not yet. When she looked forward, she saw the king sitting in a large comfortable chair appearing to be in a good mood. She smiled. She had always liked the king, he seemed very kind like an old grandfather she had used to imagine as her own. Although, the temperament wasn't part of her imagining, she thought dryly as she remembered the famous temperamental explosions the king was prone to.

Not far away from the king sat an extraordinarily beautiful woman. She had gorgeous, red hair that fell behind her back and she wore a beautiful green dress that complimented her hair. At her lap sat a small, maybe three years old, child with black hair. When Rella's eyes passed her coiffure, her eyes widened slightly and she focused quickly back on the king.

Anastasia?

Could it be? No, no way. But she had the coiffure, and Anastasia never left it anywhere. But the woman was also much, much prettier than Anastasia. Not that she hadn't been pretty, but not that pretty. That woman was probably the most beautiful woman in all of Elethia. Rella snapped out of her thoughts as the king started to speak.

"So, you are the good people they've sent here to make the trading treaty", he said as Falad and Rella bowed. "Welcome, welcome. You shall be attending to it with my son as soon as that wayward boy gets here."

Rella cursed in her mind. She had hoped that she could've avoided the prince for a while. As they were stepping aside they heard the butler cleared his throat and announced the prince.

"His royal highness prince Charles William Albert van Barcleon."

The butler had not even finished his sentence when the prince charged in smiling widely.

"Father!" he said. "The merchants agreed to the deal we've made them."

The king smiled. "Brilliant, my son."

The prince stopped next to the beautiful lady and the child for a moment before continuing to the king who was gesturing towards Falad and Rella.

"These are lord and lady Ir'd'aran. They are here for the trading treaty between our kingdoms"

The prince turned around to face them and flashed them his gorgeous smile. It stung, Rella decided. Last time it had been such a wonderful smile, she had seen hope and dreams in it. Then that same smile had crushed those hopes and dreams when the prince had watched her with a confused smile on his face and told her that he didn't know her.

"Good afternoon, lord", the prince greeted. "And lady."

Then he paused and stared at Rella frowning slightly. "Well, this is odd. Have we met before, milady?"

"No, no your highness", Rella hurried to say as she tried to recover from her shock.

"Oh, well, I guess you just remind her a bit", the prince shrugged. "Now, lord Ir'd'aran, shall we?"

Falad looked at Rella. "_Are you alright? Would you like to stay here?_" he said in their own language.

Rella bit her lip and thought about it for a moment until she shook her head. "_No, I'll come with you. I want to see that I've gotten over him."_

Falad nodded and smiled. They turned to follow the prince who looked at them confused.

"The lady comes too?"

Falad nodded. "Yes, she's drafted half of the agreements, your highness."

"Oh, well alright then. This way", he said and they headed out of the room trailing behind the prince.

Unnoticed by them, the beautiful lady stared hardly after them.

...

Oh, and by the way.

If any of you happens to read my Narnia- fanfiction too, I'd be very happy if you could go to my profile and vote for which story I should start writing next. I have trouble deciding.

The options are my Prince Caspian AU, which I still haven't named yet and The Cordial. Both belongs to my Winter saga and there are short descriptions in my profile.

Please, vote :)


	5. Chapter 4

**A/N:** Sorry for taking so long again, I've had a busy year so far. But here's chapter four, I hope you'll enjoy!

Thank you for all of the reviews!

4.

Rella paced in front of a large double doors waiting for Falad. She was nervous again and she hated it. She was tired of being nervous because of her stepsisters and stepmother even though she hadn't even met them properly yet. Somehow it made it even worse. This was their third day here and she was already a wreck, she was beginning to think that maybe she shouldn't have come.

On the other hand, as Falad had pointed out when she had opened up to him, they couldn't do anything to her anymore. She was a representative of another country and a wife of another representative. They couldn't do anything, not without serious consequences.

Rella sighed and stopped. She smoothed out her evening dress, it was burgundy with dark green embroidery and silver in the edges of the wide sleeves and in the sash that was tied around her waist. Her pillbox hat matched the color of her dress and the scarf that covered her hair was dark green with tiny silver embroidery.

The king had arranged a ball and that was where they were going once Falad had managed to sort out the matter that one of their servants had brought to their attention. She hoped it wasn't anything too bad. Rella gazed down the hall to see if she could see Falad, but he was still gone. She walked to the wall next to a narrow servant's corridor and leaned against the wall. Rella closed her eyes and tried to calm down. Anastasia was sure to be there as would be the prince. Drizella and stepmother were a bit more uncertain. She didn't know if they were going to be there. She hadn't heard anyone mention them when she had been here nor did she know what they could be doing. Did they even know she was here? Had Anastasia recognized her? She wished she knew.

Rella focused on the sounds surrounding her and breathed deeply in and out. She needed to calm down. As she breathed she heard the muffled sounds of a large crowd from the ballroom along with dance music, the rustling of clothes as the guards next to the ballroom door shifted on their feet and something strange. Something, that sounded vaguely familiar, small and slightly squeaky. The voices were coming from the servants corridor, the other voice seemed to be explaining something to the other in a frustrated tone. Rella turned to look at the narrow corridor and frowned slightly. She knew those voices, from somewhere long ago. She took a step forward before stopping and glancing hesitantly back at the large main corridor. Falad would be back any minute, and they had agreed to meet in front of the doors. He would be worried if she wouldn't be there. This wouldn't take long, Rella decided. She would go and see who were the owners of those voices and return quickly.

She turned back towards the corridor and walked swiftly. As she moved along the corridor the voices became clearer and she was able make out that the frustrated voice was trying to explain to the other, what appeared to be the millionth time if the tone was anything to say, that you couldn't go beat up a cat. Rella frowned, she was certain she had heard the argument before. Rella slowed down as she approached a crossing. The voices appeared to be coming from there. Rella squinted her eyes in the dim light of lanterns and observed the crossing. At first she couldn't see anything, but then something told her to look from the floor and she noticed a pair of mice in small shirts, jackets, shoes and caps arguing about the cat. Rella's eyes widened as she recognized them.

"Jaq? Gus?" she said disbelievingly. "What are you doing here?"

The mice froze for a split second before turning around and running as fast as they could towards a small hole in the wall.

"Wait! I won't hurt you. Don't you remember me?" Rella said quickly and kneeled on the floor. "It's me, Cinderella."

Once again the mice froze, this time next to the hole, and turned slowly to look at Rella. They were clearly wary. Rella raised her hands slowly and removed her hat and scarf and smiled reassuringly to the mice. A recognition flashed in their tiny faces finally and they smiled widely.

"Cinderelly!"

The mice jumped up and down before scurrying quickly towards Rella who reached down with her hands and raised the mice up as they jumped into her hands. Rella smiled at them, it was so long when she had last seen them. She chuckled slightly as they continued to jump up and down exited that she was here and drowning her with enormous amount of questions. She answered them all, telling them what had happened to her after the ship had left, how she had met her new family and later Falad and how they had ended up married. This particular detail seemed to cause a little confusion to them.

"But what about the princey?" Jaq asked confused.

Rella smiled at them a bit sadly. "Nothing. It was six years ago, and now I'm happy. Happier than I would have been with him I think, I hope. I love Falad, the prince… I think he was a dream, a wrong kind of dream. I made him out to be something in my head that he's not."

Jaq nodded but seemed hesitant about something while Gus congratulated Rella for her happy life. Rella looked at Jaq.

"What is it, Jaq?"

The small mouse shook his head. "Nothing."

Rella tilted her head. "Jaq?"

Jaq wringed his tiny paws and seemed to be pondering furiously something. Finally he sighed.

"The princey… the princey came after Cinderelly."

Rella blinked. "What?"

Jaq nodded furiously. "Jaq and Gus told princey that Cinderelly is the one the princey danced when Cinderelly was being taken to the ship. But the princey was late and evil stepmother used the wand again" Jaq ended with a sigh.

She looked at Jaq disbelievingly. "The prince came after me? But…"

"Rella?" she heard suddenly behind her and turned to look.

Falad was standing at the corridor Rella had walked along here and looking at her a bit strangely. "Who are you talking to?"

Jaq and Gus squeaked in panic and tried to run again and Rella turned her attention back to the mice for a moment.

"No, no, no, it's alright", she said quickly and tried to stop them from running. "It's just Falad, my husband, remember."

The mice paused, climbed back to Rella's hands and looked at Falad warily. Rella rose from her knees and turned to Falad who lifted and eyebrow.

"Remember the mice I told you about", she said holding her hands up and smiling.

Falad blinked and looked at the mice a bit more closely. "The ones you used to talk with?"

Rella smiled brightly and nodded. "Yes, and I can still talk to them."

Falad looked at them a bit warily and lifted his hand in greeting. "Err… Hi."

Rella stifled a laugh. Falad looked like he was feeling a bit foolish right now which was a quite a feat since he wasn't very easily shocked by anything usually. Jaq and Gus greeted him as well, although a bit hesitantly and Falad looked at Rella.

"You do remember that I have no idea what they are saying, right?" he said.

Rella gave him a slightly sheepish grin. "Oh, sorry. No, I didn't remember. They said hi to you."

Falad nodded to the mice and then turned back to Rella. He looked at her apologizing with his eyes.

"Love, the ball."

Rella's eyes widened a bit. She had completely forgotten the ball. She looked at the mice.

"I'm sorry. We need to continue this later. Where do you live here? Would you be able to come to the embassy?"

Jaq nodded. "When is Cinderelly leaving? Jaq and Gus can come to the main doors then."

Rella glanced at Falad. "How long do you suppose we need to be here?"

"Well, we can't stay very late, we have the meeting in the morning. Shall we say twelve o'clock?"

"Okay, meet us then", Rella told to the mice who nodded to her and scurried quickly to the hole in the wall. Rella waved at them as they disappeared and turned to Falad who had picked her hat and scarf from the floor. Rella smiled as she reached for them, but Falad smiled and started to arrange the scarf over her hair telling her to stay put.

"Everything alright?" Falad asked.

Rella nodded. "Yes. I am glad that Jaq and Gus are alright, I've missed them."

Falad nodded. "It is amazing this gift elethians have, to be able talk to animals."

"I'm glad I have the gift", Rella said. "They were my best friends as I grew."

Falad frowned disapprovingly at the thought of Rella not having anyone else to count on in her youth. They had talked about it before, but it still made his blood boil. Falad took the hat and set it over the scarf. Rella took Falad's hands on her own and looked at him pointedly as their eyes met.

Falad rolled his eyes. "Yes, I know. It's in the past, over and done. But I still don't like it."

Rella smiled and stepped closer wrapping her arms around Falad's waist. "I know, it's okay. It makes me feel much better for some reason."

Falad smiled and gave her a peck on the lips. "Good."

They stood there hugging each other for a while until Falad parted, took Rella's hand and placed it on his arm.

"Shall we?"

Rella smiled and they returned to the main corridor. When they approached the ballroom doors the guards looked at them a bit strangely but opened the doors quickly. Nobody announced them this time when they stepped in, a fact which Rella was quite grateful. She really didn't like attention being drawn into them in such a way, it made her uncomfortable. As they strolled slowly around the ballroom mingling with other guests, Rella tried discreetly to see where Anastasia was and if Drizella and stepmother were here. She still couldn't find Drizella or her stepmother anywhere but she found Anastasia talking to some ladies not awfully far away from them looking stunning in her beautiful dress, beautiful hair and beautiful jewelry. If she hadn't known that the stepmother had taken the godmother's wand she wouldn't have believed that this woman was the same Anastasia from six years ago. But she supposed that they had used the wand to make Anastasia more beautiful and it had obviously succeeded. She was now probably the most beautiful woman in Elethia.

Wonder if they had done the same to Drizella? Rella certainly could picture it, although Drizella hadn't ever been quite as vain as Anastasia since she had been a bit prettier than Anastasia, a fact she had endlessly bragged about to Anastasia. Sometimes Rella had almost felt sorry for her, almost. Now, she wasn't sure where she stood with them. Six years changed people, though stepmother would no doubt still think her beneath the trash at her feet.

She sighed drawing Falad's attention to her and he followed her gaze to the beautiful princess of Elethia.

"Do you think she's your stepsister?" he asked. They had talked about her on the previous evening when they had returned to the embassy after the long day struggling with the treaties.

They continued strolling, Falad leading them through the crowd as Rella studied the guests. She had just noticed the child from the previous day who had been with Anastasia and she tried to see, if she recognize any features in him, when she distractedly heard Falad talking to someone introducing them to whoever it was he was talking with. Rella sighed uncomfortably as she watched the child, suddenly she wasn't feeling very well.

"Rella, love", Falad said touching her arm and she turned away from the child. "This is her grace lady Tremaine."

Everything in Rella seemed to freeze as she suddenly noticed to be face to face with her stepmother.

…..

**A/N:** Hah! A cliffhanger! Tiny one, I know, but I couldn't resist.


	6. Chapter 5

**A/N:** Not the shortest time I've written a chapter but not as long as usual either :)

Thank you for all of the reviews, they really make the writing go smoother. And for FlutePower to answer your question I've reasoned the speaking to animals skill so that it's a skill that every elethian possesses, but most of the population does not know how to use it. I got the idea from the scene in the third movie where the mice tell the prince what's going on. The prince has obviously never spoken to animals but can still understand them and later when he tells his father, his father is concerned for him apparently for his mental health. So, as Falad is not elethian and the dherr'eshaanians don't have that skill (except maybe with a few exception here and there) he doesn't understand Rella's animal friends. He only hears the normal noises what mice keep.

Okay, on with the chapter. I hope that it's good.

…

5.

Rella stood frozen in her spot and stared at lady Tremaine. She hadn't changed at all. Only her clothes and jewelry, which seemed to have changed into more expensive ones. She was looking back at her indifferently.

She inclined her head gracefully. "My pleasure, lady Ir'd'aran."

Rella found her head completely empty. She knew she was supposed to say something, but nothing, absolutely nothing came into mind. And on top of that, she felt the nausea getting worse. She needed to get out!

Rella drew a deep breath and tried to focus as hard as it proved to be.

"Likewise, your grace", Rella said and swallowed with difficulty, the room was rocking slightly. "E-excuse me. I- I'm not feeling well."

With that she pressed her hand in front of her mouth and rushed towards the balcony she remembered hazily being there. She heard as if through a wall or a veil as Falad cried her name worried. She stumbled slightly as she hurried to the balcony, luckily finding it empty. Rella rounded around the door and walked to the railing leaning heavily against it. She moved her hand from her mouth to her stomach.

She breathed heavily and tried to calm down. The cool air was helping and she didn't feel the urge to throw up again although the nausea hadn't disappeared anywhere. As she was starting to feel better, she heard footsteps coming towards her. She glanced at the door and smiled faintly when she saw Falad stopping to look around him and upon finding her, hurrying to her. He lay his hand on her shoulder and stared at her worried.

"_Are you alright?"_ he asked in their own language.

"_I'll be fine. I'm sorry"_, Rella said. _"I was really feeling ill and then she appeared out of nowhere and- and-"_

Falad stopped her rushed speech by pressing two fingers gently on top of her lips and moved them then to stroke her cheek with his thumb. _"It's alright, my love. Calm down. I should have realized she was the owner of that manor we went to visit. You did say who owned it. I'm the one who should apologize."_

Rella shook her head and leaned against him. Falad kissed her forehead and hugged her tihghtly.

"_Are you feeling alright now?"_ Falad asked.

Rella nodded. _"Yes, the nausea went away."_

"_Good. Now, would you like to dance?"_ Falad asked grinning slightly mischievously. Neither of them were very good at the dances of Dherr'eshaan, but Elethian dances were an entirely different matter, especially to Rella.

Rella smiled. She loved dancing with Falad, it always reminded her of the day they had met.

"_I would love to."_

…

_Rella bit her lip nervously as she peeked carefully from the door at the ball. She was unsure and exited at the same time. These were her first party in Dherr'eshaan and since the unfortunate ball in Elethia two years ago. At the same time this was her first participation in an event that included members of the merchants guild and nobility as an adoptive daughter of Yari Behren. She found Mr. Behren in the ballroom and walked towards him slowly studying her surroundings at the same time. On the right side of the room was a buffet from where the guests retrieved snacks and drinks. There was an orchestra playing dance music in the corner on a dais near the left side of the room. The area in front of the players was reserved to dancing leaving the rest of the large room filled with people who were talking and eating. _

_She noticed some looking in her way a bit longer than normal, no doubt noticing her much paler complexion. She was actually quite glad that she was wearing a scarf over her hair, otherwise they would have probably stared even more. Rella stopped next to her adoptive father and smiled a little. Mr. Behren smiled widely back and introduced her to ashrát Nashmat. They conversed for awhile and Rella noticed that she could keep up with the conversation effortlessly and that the ashrát seemed to find her quite pleasant company. _

_Rella smiled victoriously, she had been afraid that she wouldn't have been able to _be_ pleasant company. In truth, she had seen even a few nightmares of this night. She had been afraid that stepmother was right, that she would never be anything else than an inferior, foolish little girl that wasn't capable in anything else than serve. When she had been in the ball and met the prince two years ago, she had for a moment thought that she could prove her stepmother wrong. But then everything had gone wrong. The stepmother had won again and she had nearly given up on ever getting herself a life she loved. _

_Fortunately she had then met Mr. Behren. She had so much to thank him for already and now this. Rella sighed and squared her shoulders and continued to converse with the ashrát until they moved on to mingle with other people. For the next couple of hours she ate a little and talked and got to know many people, some of whom she had heard already and some who were new to her. She had even gotten to dance a few times although she had warned her dance partners that she wasn't completely familiar with the steps yet. They had all told her that she had been a lovely person to dance with. _

_Rella was standing next to the buffet drinking wonderfully cool lemonade after a bit more brisk dance than the others, when she felt someone stop next to her. She turned to look and found a tall, lean man, maybe a year or two older than her standing next to her gazing at the dance floor. He was wearing a green coat with golden embroidery on the sleeves, high collar and on the hem. He had trousers that matched the coat and fine leather boots. As all dherr'eshaanians, he had a dark, coffee colored skin with dark eyes and black hair that had been braided in the back of his neck. He had a narrow face with a quite serious look in them and his nose was slightly crooked. Rella suspected that he might have broken it somewhere. In his left ear, that Rella could see was a small golden earring. In the small ring hanged an amethyst. _

_Rella averted her eyes from him quickly. He was awfully handsome, why on earth was he standing next to her and not mingling and dancing with the other young women in the ball? She heard the man shift turning towards her and clearing his throat. _

"_I am not a very good dancer, milady, but if you believe you could put up with it, I would like to have one dance with you", the man said in a low and deep voice._

_Rella managed to catch her tongue before she blurted out the 'why' that was trying to sneak through her lips and swallowed. _

"_I'm not a very good dancer either, milord", Rella said and cursed herself. Why on earth had she said that? She should've said yes!_

_The man smiled and Rella felt something flip in her stomach. _

"_Well, perhaps I can manage to get another dance from you then", he offered her his hand._

"_Another?" Rella asked trying desperately not to sound breathless as she took the offered hand. _

"_Of course", he said and led them to the dance floor. "May I inquire your name?"_

"_Rella, Rella Behren", she answered. "And you?"_

"_I am Falad Ir'd'aran."_

_Rella smiled at him carefully and they began dancing. They ended up dancing with each other for the rest of the evening._

…..

She was still shaking slightly, both from the sudden nausea she had suffered and the unexpected meetind with her stepmother, Rella noticed as she leaned her forehead against Falad's shoulder and Falad lead their way in a slow and calm dance in the dance floor. She was slightly ashamed of her reaction. Despite the fact that she really _had_ felt ill, the way she had turned and hurried away under the excuse of getting some fresh air the moment stepmother had looked at her longer than passing (she had actually looked at her quite long considering that they weren't supposed to have met before), was undoubtedly an escape. She had gotten one good look at lady Tremaine and ran away like mouse from a cat. She was awfully ashamed of herself, she had thought that she would have been able to be in the same space with stepmother better than this.

But apparently not.

She hadn't even done anything besides looking at her. She had been very polite and charming in that dignified sort of way that was so like her when she wasn't dealing with her daughters or Rella herself. Wonder what would had happened if she would've recognized her? Rella thought and decided at the next moment that that wasn't a good idea to think about. Not if she wanted to enjoy the party. Although it was starting to seem to be a difficult task. After she had ran away from her stepmother, Anastasia had been staring at her constantly. It was making her nervous. She had a feeling that she had seen what had happened, and despite what her mother and sister thought, Rella knew that Anastasia was not stupid.

Rella sighed and tried to forget everything else.

They danced through most of the night only pausing to drink and eat a little and to talk with dignitaries and with the prince every now and then. After the meeting with lady Tremaine the night was actually quite nice.

It was well over midnight when they finally managed to leave. Jaq and Gus were probably bored to death in their carriage where they had promised to wait for them. They were walking down the hall when a messenger came running to them and relayed a message that the prince had forgotten to give some papers to them and that if they could get them now before they left. Rella decided to stay waiting in the hall as Falad got the papers. She wasn't very eager to meet the prince anymore today, she'd had enough bad memories from her stepmother already, thank you very much.

As she was pacing back and forth along the corridor she heard someone call her.

"Cinderella."

Rella stopped dead. The voice of a woman had called her Cinderella. She turned around slowly and swallowed nervously as she saw Anastasia standing in all of her beautiful glory just a few steps away from her.

"I- I'm sorry. Who?" Rella stammered.

Anastasia lifted her hand in a soothing gesture. "Please, it's alright. I won't harm you. I just want to talk."

"As I said I don't know who you think I am, but you must have mistaken me for someone else", Rella said feeling a little desperate. She remembered all too well Anastasia's habit of running to her mother when she had done something they didn't like.

"Please don't, Cinderella. I recognize you, I've always been jealous of your eyes, I'd recognize them anywhere. Adding to that your reaction to my mother…" Anastasia trailed off before continuing. "I just want to talk."

Rella bit her lip before she burst. "Why? I have no inclination to talk to you! You made my life hell."

To Rella's amazement Anastasia looked ashamed as she nodded. "I know. That's why I need to talk to you."

Rella raised her brow.

Anastasia took a deep breath. "I wanted to apologize. What we did to you was cruel and awful and wrong. I'm sorry that I was part of it and that I made your life miserable in the manor, _in your own house_. I can't make any excuses but I know now that what we did to you was wrong and I've been trying to make amends. I hope that you can forgive me someday but I understand if you don't."

Rella stared at Anastasia dumbfounded. She was looking guiltily at the floor and trembling slightly. Rella's mind was in chaos. She didn't know what to think at all, in fact she found it difficult to think about Anastasia altogether. Rella looked at her hands as she struggled to find an answer.

"I-", she started and Anastasia's head shot up and she looked at her anxiously.

"I need to think about this", Rella said to her weakly.

Anastasia looked unsure as she nodded. "Of course. Just, please, tell me what you decide before you leave Elethia. Please?"

Rella nodded her agreement and Anastasia smiled at her hesitantly before turning and walking away slowly. Rella pressed her hands at her face and tried to breathe. She hoped that Falad would hurry up, she wanted back to the embassy so she could think in peace.

…


	7. Chapter 6

**A/N:** Hi again! After a long time. Sorry for the wait once again, but I hope you like this chapter even though there isn't much happening. Enjoy!

6.

They had agreed that she would stay behind at the embassy today while Falad would go and continue the negotiations at the palace. Then agreements needed to be made and the dherr'eshaanians were very self conscious about how their agreements were written and illustrated. Everything that was written in Dherr'eshaan was to be beautifully written and illustrated. And because it took time, especially the illustration, Rella had stayed and started to make the illustrations. She was actually very good at it. She was good at making agreements all together, many people had said that she was tough woman to make deals with, but still she was not as good as Falad. He was able to think things she didn't even realize and that way make sure that there never was any loopholes left in the agreements or, if wanted, there _were_ loopholes… for the dherr'eshaanians of course. But she was really good in writing beautifully and illustrating beautifully. Her adoptive family had always praised her about it.

As she always woke up early, she had done a lot of work by lunchtime. Although it had been difficult as her thoughts were constantly straying to what Anastasia had told her. That had been the day – or rather the night – before yesterday. As she was finishing her lunch thoughts of their encounter circled in her mind over and over. She didn't know what to do.

Rella set the cutleries on the empty plate and reached for the teapot. She poured herself some tea before standing up and walking to the terrace hoping to find her mice friends from there. Maybe talking to them would clear her head a little. As she stepped outside she glanced around but couldn't see them. She was sure she had heard them here earlier.

"Jaq! Gus!" she called. "Are you here?"

For a moment nothing happened. Then she heard small rustling and soon saw two tiny figures scuttling across the terrace and nimbly climbing on the table squeaking her name as a greeting. Rella smiled happily, she was so glad that they were alright. Though they had grown older and Jaq apparently had a family – "14 children! Oh, my… Congratulations, Jag." – they were still the same friends she had always known. Rella offered them a crumbled cookie and they sat down in front of her.

After wondering for awhile, Rella decided to just ask them straight. "What – can you tell me what Anastasia has been doing in the past years?"

The mice glanced at each other before nodding enthusiastically. "Sure!" "Of course, Cinderelly!"

Rella smiled at them. "Thank you. Umm… Why don't you start with what happened after I'd left. Did stepmother put him under a spell again?"

Jaq shook his small head. "No. When the princey came back, he didn't say anything about Cinderelly. He just married Anastasia."

"Never said a thing?" Rella asked and Jaq shook his head. Rella frowned a little as she thought. Perhaps the prince hadn't thought it that important after all, her and him. And it wasn't uncommon amongst the nobility and royalty that one married for some other reason than love. And truly, they didn't keep that exact records at the harbor about the coming and leaving of ships. Even if the prince had gone through them and found a destination, she could have jumped off at any harbor the ship had stopped. It had been more practical and reasonable to marry Anastasia, who had been there already. And when she was out of the influence of her mother and sister, she was actually quite nice company although a bit spoiled and naive. Rella had been here a week by now and she hadn't seen stepmother but once in the entire time and Drizella she hadn't seen at all. So it was possible that they didn't spend their time in the court very much and Anastasia was left in her own devices.

"I see", Rella said. "Has she changed? Anastasia, I mean."

The mice took a pondering look on their faces and after a few moments Gus nodded.

"Yes, she is different now", Jaq agreed.

"Really? How so?" She asked. Rella noticed that she was really hoping that Anastasia had tried to amend her ways as she had said.

Jaq tilted his head as he thought. "She started being nice. For start. Then she got a baby and she started to go all sorts of thingies that were made for helping people."

"Thingies? You mean charity events?" Rella asked.

The mice nodded furiously.

Rella sipped her tea. Perhaps she really was trying to amend her ways, Rella thought. The possibility to forgive her younger stepsister suddenly seemed a bit easier. She wondered why she hadn't talked to the mice earlier. She had wrestled with this for over a day. Though she was still a bit unsure, but Anastasia had always been the nicer one of the two. Never as bad as her sister. She had been easily led, Rella supposed. So, maybe she could try and go to speak to her next time she went to the castle.

…

Falad narrowed his eyes slightly as he aimed with the musket at the clay disk that flew through the air. He followed the target for a few more seconds before firing and shattering the clay disk into pieces. The prince had suggested, that to have a break from the work they'd go clay pigeon shooting once they'd eaten their lunch. Falad had agreed to it, thinking that a little fresh air never hurt anybody, but also because the prince seemed to have something on his mind. Something, that didn't have anything to do with trading agreements.

They had been shooting for awhile now. Prince Charles was a very good shooter, Falad had noticed. He rarely missed when he shot the targets whereas Falad himself was only adequate. He had done this a little few times before at home, but he had never really bothered with it. He didn't like firearms, he much rather preferred the saber they used in Dherr'eshaan and was extremely good at wielding it. Falad grinned inwardly. Rella preferred the saber too, at least if the way she looked at him as he practiced gave any inclination.

The prince aimed and shattered a clay disk once again before turning to Falad. "I've been meaning to ask you, lord Ir'd'aran", he said as he loaded his musket, "is your wife originally from around our capital? I can't shake the feeling that I've met her before."

So that was what the prince wanted to talk about, Falad thought. He bought some time by aiming at the target, trying to decide what to answer to the prince. He didn't want to say anything that would cause distress to Rella later. And he had to admit that he was a bit suspicious of the prince. What if he hadn't gotten over Rella? Or then he was overreacting.

"Yes, she has lived around here", Falad said carefully. "But I'm not sure if you would've met her. At those times she was forced to work as a maid."

The prince frowned. "Really? A maid… well, perhaps I've seen someone who looks just like her. Or did she ever work at the palace?"

"You will have to ask that from her, your highness", Falad said a little reluctantly. "She doesn't talk about that time of her life very much." And even if she did, the prince didn't need to know that. Falad thought.

"Hmm… well, she is a very beautiful woman, if I may say so, and perhaps that is the reason she has stayed in my mind", the prince pondered and shot a disk down again.

"That she is, and one of a kind", Falad said feeling some sort of satisfaction that she had married him in the end. He frowned slightly and wondered what was wrong with him. He didn't normally feel as possessive and over protective as this, they loved each other and trusted each other. Although, he was on unfamiliar territory here, perhaps it was the reason.

They spent some more time shooting until the butler, Mr. Richardson, came to them. He stood politely behind them as the prince aimed and coughed discreetly. The prince shot the target and turned around to face the butler raising his eyebrow in the process.

"Yes, Mr. Richardson?" the prince asked.

"Your appointment with the delegate from Hennaran is in half an hour, your highness", the butler said bowing slightly.

The prince blinked and the muttered a curse. "Oh shoot! I completely forgot the time!" He turned towards Falad. "We're going to have to continue this tomorrow, lord Ir'd'aran."

Falad nodded and bowed as well and watched the prince hurry towards the castle, no doubt to make himself more presentable. Falad handed the musket to the servant and started heading to the castle as well. Now that he had a opportunity to get away earlier, he thought about surprising Rella. He was going to go via the city and see if he could find something she would like. Maybe he could visit that bakery they were on the other day…

….

"What about Drizella?" Rella asked and rested her head on her hands as she looked at the mice. "What happened to her after I left? I haven't seen her here even once."

Jaq took a bite from a biscuit and munched it happily before answering. "The evil stepmother found her a prince too."

"Really? From where?" she asked. She should've known. No way Drizella would've settled for any less than Anastasia, once she had been married.

"From north", Jaq said.

"Hennaran?"

Jaq shook his head. "No, that wasn't the name."

"Aherin?"

Now he nodded enthusiastically. "Yes, yes. That was it!"

Well, at least the woman was in another kingdom for sure, Rella thought relieved that she didn't have to worry about the elder stepsister. So, the prince of Aherin. Poor guy, the prince had to be going nuts with Drizella if he was even some sort of a decent person. She wondered what her stepmother was doing now that she had managed to marry of her daughters to royalty. She couldn't imagine her merely lounging around, visiting other nobility at teatime. She could imagine her making appearance at the balls, but other than that, she really couldn't see her being very social amongst them. She considered herself above everybody else. Rella wouldn't be surprised if she thought that of the royal family as well.

Rella sighed. She should get back to work. She looked down at the mice.

"I'm sorry guys, but I have to go now. I have lots of work to do", she said.

Jaq and Gus smiled. "That's okay Cinderelly, we'll go work too."

"Oh?"

Jaq nodded. "Fourteen mouths to feed."

Rella smiled and nodded. "Of course. I'll see you later."

"Bye!" Jaq and Gus waived at her as they scuttled back to the yard and disappeared into the garden.

Rella stood up and collected her teacup before turning to go back inside. As she was opening the terrace doors, she heard commotion from the front yard. She frowned slightly, wondering who was it and hurried through the house, setting the teacup onto the tray as she passed it. Rella opened the front door and stepped outside.

"Rella!" Falad stepped down from the horse and gave the reins to the stable boy. He walked briskly and smiling to Rella and scooped her in his arms giving her a kiss in the process. Rella laughed and wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Falad? What are you doing here? I thought you were going to be at the palace whole day", Rella exclaimed smiling.

"Me too", Falad answered, "but it appeared that his highness forgot a meeting he had. So I decided to take a free afternoon."

Rella grinned. "That's nice."

Falad nodded. "Isn't it. Now, what would you think about, going to the theatre? I heard in the palace, that there is a play going on that is supposed to be amusing. Would you like to go and see if it is?" Falad raised an eyebrow.

Rella pretended to think for a moment before nodding. "I'd love to."

"Oh good, because I went and bought the tickets already", he smirked charmingly.

Rella laughed. "Of course you did."

Falad offered her his arm and they stepped inside the house, talking about the play and their days. Their servant brought the delicious cupcakes inside with a note from Mrs. Lane. They spent the rest of their day having fun.


	8. Chapter 7

**A/N:** Finally, after a really looong time, we have another chapter. I once again apologize, though this time the delay was because of some re-planning with the story (I hit a small wall with the story and had to get it done again before I could continue). So here you are, the seventh chapter. About six plus an epilogue to go.

Enjoy!

7.

Rella leaned heavily against the commode in their bedroom crouched over the washing bowl breathing heavily having just thrown up a moment ago. She felt Falad coming to stand behind her and starting to rub her arms.

"Rella, are you alright?"

She nodded and after wiping her mouth with the towel, she turned around and leaned against Falad's chest. "Yes, I'm okay now. I wonder if I'm sick or something, I've had this nausea ever since the ball, but I haven't thrown up before."

Falad frowned worriedly. "Perhaps it is because you're here, in another country? I've heard that some people get sick for a few days when they arrive to a new country."

"Maybe", Rella said. Whatever this was she hoped it would pass soon.

"Perhaps you should stay home today and rest", Falad suggested.

"No, no. I don't want to stay home. I'll be perfectly fine, I promise", Rella answered. "Besides, I promised that I'd meet Anastasia today."

Falad raised his eyebrows. "Really?"

"Yes", Rella smiled. "She apologized to me at the ball and well, I wanted to talk to her so we agreed to meet today. It's only after lunch though, so you don't have to worry about me abandoning you right away."

Falad smirked charmingly. "How nice."

He then bowed down to kiss her, but Rella put her hand against his mouth. "Heaven's sake, don't! I taste like vomit!"

"Oh, sorry", Falad blinked and straightened. "Well, you better have something to eat or drink then so that the taste goes away."

Rella nodded and followed Falad into the dining room. She drank some juice and nibbled a little some fruit while staying far away from the coffee cup that had gotten her to throw up. Something in the smell made her feel ill. Falad drank the coffee quickly and then they hurried to the yard where their carriage awaited to take them to the castle. They were going to work with the agreement for the morning and socialize in the afternoon. Hopefully this was going to be a good day.

….

Rella took a deep breath and tried to calm herself. There really wasn't any need to be nervous. Really. She was just meeting with her stepsister, who she hadn't seen in six years and who used to trip her in the stairs when they were children. So no, no need to be nervous.

Right.

Rella shook her head as she walked along the corridor towards the gardens. She wondered if she was able to fool anyone since she wasn't able to do that to herself. Hopefully she wouldn't appear awfully jittery with Anastasia.

At least the day was beautiful for a stroll in the gardens and thankfully a warm one too. She had been slightly cold nearly the whole time in Elethia having gotten used to the warmer climate in Dherr'eshaan. Oh, how she missed their own gardens. The labyrinth of pathways, that wove through the beautiful and exotic plants, shrubs and trees with fountains, small streams and sitting areas here and there.

Rella slowed down slightly as she neared the entrance to the garden. She peaked outside carefully seeing no one. Anastasia hadn't arrived yet, then. She took another deep breath and stepped into the sun and looked around herself for a place to sit. There were several benches around the large fountain that dominated the yard and Rella headed to them. She would be perfectly visible from there.

She sat down to wait and began to finger her small pouch that was hanging from her bronze belt. She was wearing a chocolate brown dress with bright and warm orange. Rella wondered if ti was too flashy, but she liked the colors.

"Cinderella?"

Rella jumped at the sound of her name, her heart nearly stopping as she gasped.

"Anastasia! Please, don't startle me so", Rella held her hand against her chest and tried to calm her wildly beating heart while Anastasia smiled apologetically. "And call me Rella, please. It is my name now."

Anastasia nodded. "Of course. I'm sorry I startled you."

"That's alright", Rella said and smiled weakly.

They stood quietly for a moment, neither of them moving and the air vibrating with unease. Finally Anastasia moved and gestured hesitantly towards a path.

"Um… shall we?"

Rella nodded smiling weakly again and headed to the path. Anastasia fell into step with her and they walked in silence deeper into the garden. When the other wasn't looking they glanced at each other, both wondering and arguing with themselves how to begin. Though they had lived a great part of their childhoods together in the same house and in theory as a family, they felt as if they were walking next to a stranger. The events six years ago and after had changed both of them conclusively. Though, considering their history, this could be seen as a perfect opportunity to start anew from a clean table so to speak.

"I had –"

"I was –"

They tried to speak at the same time and stopped to stare each other. Rella smiled hesitantly and Anastasia held out her perfectly manicured hand.

"Friends?" she asked also smiling hesitantly.

Rella took the offered hand and nodded. "Yes, friends."

They continued their walked slightly more relaxed. "You go first", Anastasia offered, letting out a small and nervous laugh.

"I…" Rella began and paused to organize her thoughts. She sighed. "I forgive you. But, I want you to understand, I do not – will not – forget. Probably ever."

Anastasia nodded with a relieved smile. It seemed as if she was suddenly standing straighter. "Thank you", she breathed. "And I know – I mean, I understand. I don't think I would forget something like that either."

Rella nodded. "Quite. However, I don't think I can forgive you mother or your sister. They were… something else."

Anastasia shrugged. "That's alright. In this, between me and you, they don't matter. I'm the one who needs to live with myself for the rest of my life, not them. Druzilla is living in another country and mother is eventually going to die. I, a bit surprisingly for me, am actually quite relieved that I don't need to live with them anymore or listen to what they say about other people or do what mother tells me to do. I was amazed when I realized that."

Rella stared at her, amazed how much her former stepsister had changed. They continued walking and Rella looked at her surroundings curiously. She had never seen the royal gardens since she had been acting as a maid. It was strange to think that if stepmother hadn't gotten the wand, she would have seen these gardens thousands of times with the prince. They arrived to a small pond and stopped. Rella could see beautifully colored fishes swimming around. They sat down on a bench facing the pond.

"How long will you be staying here?" Anastasia asked suddenly.

Rella blinked. "Oh… Until both of the agreements are done. The other one is pretty much ready."

Anastasia tilted her head as she thought. "So, a week or maybe two before you leave?"

Rella nodded "Yes. Why?"

"Well, I was thinking if you and your husband would like to have dinner with us sometime. Just us I mean, nothing official or anything. Just us and maybe the children. I'd like to actually meet your husband", Anastasia said talking quickly.

Rella smiled. "Sure, I'd love to and I don't think Falad has anything against it either", she frowned thoughtfully as she thought about something Anastasia had said. "Children? You have more than one?"

"Yes, we have three children. I thought you knew?" Anastasia answered looking slightly confused.

"No, I haven't been following the happenings in Elethia in a long time. After I arrived to Dherr'eshaan it was too close, I didn't want anything to remind me of here and later I had other things in my mind", Rella explained looking down at her hands for a moment before raising her gaze to Anastasia. "What are their names? How old are they?"

"Their names are Leopold, Elaiza and Richard. And Leopold is five, Elaiza is three and Richard is two", Anastasia answered smiling fondly as she thought about her children.

Being a mother suited Anastasia, Rella decided as she watched her. It made her want to have children too. She and Falad had agreed to not take any stress about having a child, but they still had been married a little over a year already and most couples had their first child by then. She hoped she wasn't unable to bear children or anything. Falad wouldn't care whether they had children or not, she knew that, but it would cause problems between Falad's family and them. His mother was already slightly against her because of her foreign looks.

"The king must be happy now that he has grandchildren", Rella said.

Anastasia nodded. "Yes, he is. It's almost impossible to get him to do any work anymore when all he would like to do is spoil the kids", Anastasia laughed.

"I can imagine", Rella smiled as she thought about the kind king. "I wish I had children too."

"I'm sure you'll have them", Anastasia reassured her. "You have not been that long married yet if I have understood correctly. Some women just don't get pregnant that easily, or, if you don't mind me being so bold, you've had bad luck with the timing."

Rella broke down into giggles. "Trust me, you are not being bold compared to my mother in law."

"Oh?"

"Yes. Her first words, when we returned from our honeymoon, were 'Well? Are you knocked up already?'"

Anastasia's eyes widened. "No!"

Rella nodded, now calmed down. "And when it became clear that I wasn't, she interrogated me extremely thoroughly in front of all Falad's relatives. Needless to say, we were both very embarrassed. And Falad isn't even the heir to the family."

"Oh dear. I would have died if that would have happened to me!" the redhead exclaimed and the two young women, now feeling comfortable around each other for the first time in their entire lives, launched into a long conversation about everything.

They were so engrossed in it, that they did not notice a pair of narrowed eyes staring at them from the cover of the trees and shrubs.

…

Hours later the two women walked down the corridor of the palace in search for their husbands. They were still, in some matters, slightly strained in their discussions but otherwise they were acting like two friends seeing each other for a very long time. As they had searched for their husbands, they had made a small detour and Anastasia had introduced Rella to her children, who were under the care of the royal nanny when Anastasia herself wasn't present.

Leopold had been very polite and charming, very unusual for a five year old child, Rella had thought, but it had been awfully cute as well, when the small boy had precociously tried to impress his mother and her friend. The tiny boy was a spitting image of his father except that his hair was flaming red as his mother's.

Elaiza on the other hand had not been in a very good mood. The last of her milk teeth was growing out and it apparently caused some aching in her jaw. Other than that the little girl looked like a princess from head to toe. She was going to be a heartbreaker with her deep blue eyes and hair as black as raven's feathers when she grew up, everyone could see it.

Little Richard had just started his negative age and had been very rude. Rella had gotten to hold him awhile, but their nice time together had ended up with Richard trying to eat her scarf. The little terror had come to his father even more than Leopold with his black hair.

That had been awhile ago and the men should have gotten the day's work done by now. They were now heading to the prince's study where Rella and Falad often worked with the prince. Anastasia was explaining about a party last year to Rella when they reached the door and Anastasia raised her hand to knock lightly before entering. However, before she could knock, the door opened revealing the form of the prince, turned slightly back as he talked to someone behind his back.

"Oops", the prince let out as he came to a sudden halt right before he would have collided with Anastasia. "My apologies, dear Anastasia."

Anastasia smiled happily. "Oh, that's alright. We were just coming to see if you were done for today. You've been in there far too long. I don't understand how Rella can do the same. "

Rella shrugged. "I like it, agreements and whatnots are interesting."

Falad smirked as he came from behind the prince and snaked an arm around Rella's waist while planting a kiss on her forehead. _"How was it?"_

Rella smiled a bit embarrased. _"I almost chickened out."_

Falad pretended to look shocked. _"What? No, you're the bravest lady I know!"_

Rella glared at him slightly and Falad grinned at her disarmingly. Rella rolled her eyes and turned her attention to the other couple. Anastasia was just explaining to prince Charles of her plan to have a little dinner for the four of them and maybe the kids. Falad raised his brows and looked at his wife.

"_It must have gone better than you thought it would if you have made a dinner date already"_, Falad said.

Rella shrugged. _"Well, she suggested it and I didn't see any reason to say no. Will you come?"_

Falad nodded. _"Sure."_

Rella smiled and the two of them joined the conversation for awhile before they decided to leave for the Embassy. Falad was tired of a whole days of paper shifting and Rella wanted to continue the illumination a little bit further. They bid them goodbye and headed to the courtyard where the carriages would be waiting for them, some lackey having informed their driver by now.

Rella leaned against Falad as they walked. _"I met Anastasia's children today."_

"_Oh? Were they nice?"_ Falad asked.

"_Leopold was lovely, Elaiza cried a lot and Richard tried to eat my scarf"_, Rella told him and sighed wistfully as they stepped into the carriage. _"And now I want children too."_

Falad looked at her with high brows and a mischievous glint in his eyes. _"Oh?"_

"_Yeah."_

Falad smirked. _"Well then, perhaps we should get to work then"_, he said and leered suggestively at Rella.

Rella blinked and stared blushing at her husband. "_Falad! We are in a carriage."_

"_So"_, Falad said pulling her tightly against him and leaning her down to seat capturing her lips at the same time. _"We can start here and continue… when we get back home, yes."_

The driver rolled his eyes amused as he heard Rella giggling in the back. He wished he had a woman like that too.


	9. Chapter 8

**A/N:** Surprise! I've managed to write another chapter! And look how fast. (I hope that doesn't jinx my good season when I wrote that…) And thank you so much for the reviews. I'm so happy that you haven't given up on me despite my slowness and I'm so happy you like the story :D

I hope you'll enjoy the chapter.

8.

It had been a week since her soft-headed daughter had had the stroll in the gardens with that dherr'eshaanian woman and ever since then, she had tried to wrack her brains as to why the woman looked so familiar. But nothing or no one came into her mind. And she knew for a fact that she didn't know anyone from the great southern empire. For the Empire of Dherr'eshaan was great and strong, even she had to admit that, though she still thought them to be barbaric. To fight with swords and spears instead of guns and cannons and wearing clothes without any consideration to the rest of the world, of how they looked in their eyes.

Absolutely disgraceful.

Lady Tremaine looked through the window to the courtyard where she could see the troubling woman and her husband exit the carriages. They were no doubt here because of that silly notion that Anastasia had gotten into her head, that her and prince Charles should for some unfathomable reason have dinner with the dherr'eshaanian couple.

She couldn't understand why her daughter would associate with someone like them. For God's sake, she didn't even remember the couple's name. That should be enough for Anastasia to realize that they were not worthy or high enough in the social ladder for her to spend time with. The prince was understandable of course, since he had work with the lord what-ever-his-name-was-again.

Anastasia had changed since she had married to the prince. And not for the good. She wasted her time in completely useless things, like orphanages or helping the poor. After she had gotten to use the wand, and made herself beautiful as a result, she had lost all interest even in the wand endless possibilities. If prince Charles had not been a prince she would have gotten rid of him a long time ago. The man was obviously not good influence on her daughter. Perhaps she should've married Druzilla off to prince Charles instead of Anastasia, but it was too late for now. At least Druzilla was acting reasonably. She was a little annoyed that Druzilla had had to settle for the younger prince of Aherin, but at least she wouldn't need to worry about that for long.

Lady Tremaine stroked carefully the long, white stick hidden in her sleeves. Perhaps she should use the wand to find out what in that foreign woman reminded her of. She had fought with the matter for a whole week. It was quite enough.

Lady Tremaine turned sharply from the window and headed for the rooms she used when she was living in the castle. The best room after the royal family of course, after all she was family now as well. Personally she thought she should've had at least as good rooms as the king and she could have had it done, but she had deemed it best not to, since the visiting dignitaries might have paid a little too much attention and wonder.

As she walked through the corridors, the servants and lackeys scurried quickly out of her way without the lady noticing anything. She did not pay attention to people who were as un-significant as the lowly servants and such and those rare times she did notice them, it was because they had done something she considered wrong. The servants and lackeys did all they could to avoid that, lady Tremaine's punishments were horrible and legendary among them.

The lady stopped in front of her doors and opened them stepping inside into a beautifully and expensively decorated room. She shut the door and locked it. It would not do for someone to walk in on her using magic.

Once she was certain no one would disturb her, she turned and walked in front of a large mirror that hung on the wall. She looked at it for a moment and decided it would be good enough. Then she pulled out her wand and pointed at the mirror. The corner of her mouth twitched as she recalled, what she had heard about a queen in some kingdom in the west, who had used a magical mirror. The queen had had a rhyme of some sort she had used.

"Mirror, mirror on the wall…" she murmured to herself before focusing on the mirror. "Show me the woman", she commanded simply and a bead of light shot from the wand hitting the mirror. The mirror changed into a smoky gray for a moment, before images started showing in the mirror. At first they were blurry but cleared in a few seconds and lady Tremaine could see the dherr'eshaanian woman.

As she watched the images, it appeared that they came in backwards order from the present moment to the past. She watched as the woman strolled in the garden with her daughter a week ago, how she was in a ship with her husband travelling to Elethia no doubt. She saw as the woman snuck in the corridors what must have been their home a tray of food in her hand, the woman's wedding in wich she looked way too happy in lady Tremaine's opinion.

Now she was travelling in a desert and next lady Tremaine watched her learn how to ride apparently. Then she saw a ball where the woman danced with her husband, the woman sitting in front of a table reading something, talking to an elderly gentleman in ragged clothes… Lady Tremaine narrowed her eyes at the sight of the woman – no, a girl at this point – and the clothes which suddenly made the alarm bells go off in her mind. She saw the girl wandering in the streets and then she saw a familiar sight of their city's harbor and of the girl boarding a ship in a cloudy day. Her eyes widened as her suspicions were confirmed.

"Cinderella!"

The images in the mirror shattered as her concentration broke. This was impossible. That… that girl couldn't be here! She had sent her to the farthest place possible and that certainly wasn't Dherr'eshaan. Dherr'eshaan was way too near for her to send that disgusting girl there. But the images had shown her that Cinderella had left the ship in Dherr'eshaan. There must have been a mix up of some sorts. The soldiers definitely hadn't been the brightest of people in lady Tremaine's opinion and the idiots could have easily put the girl in to a wrong ship.

Why did Cinderella had to come back? Lady Tremaine rubbed her temples feeling the beginnings of a headache. Of course she knew why the bloody, miserable, good-for-nothing idiot had come back when she thought about it reasonably. The girl was here with her husband, who was here because of the trading agreements. But that could not be the only reason Cinderella had returned. There had to be a hidden reason. Lady Tremaine was sure of it.

But what could it be?

Was she here because of the prince? No. That couldn't be the reason. The girl looked entirely too happy with her current husband to have any plans or hopes for the prince. Cinderella had never been very ambitious when she should have been instead wasted her time in frivolous things like love for one thing. Utterly useless child.

Lady Tremaine paced between the mirror and the window of her room as she thought. Perhaps she was here for the wand? But that didn't sound quite right either. It would require ambition again.

The lady stopped as she thought of something.

The fairy godmother. It would be exactly like Cinderella to try and save the foolish old hag. A perfectly soft and sentimental thing that people like Cinderella would do, lady Tremaine thought. But… then she would also be after the wand! She would need it to save the old woman.

Lady Tremaine cursed and continued her pacing. She needed to think what to do about the situation and Cinderella. She would not let her former _servant_ to ruin everything she had worked for.

…..

Rella laughed at the joke Falad had made and let her husband help her down from carriages. They were slightly early, they were heading to the dinner Anastasia had wanted them to have together, but Rella didn't mind the least. They had planned on taking a little walk on the gardens before the dinner because Rella had wanted to show them to Falad, who had not had any time yet to visit them.

Falad loved plants, which was why in their home they had an amazing garden where Falad sometimes tended the plants himself causing heart attacks to the gardeners. After all, it wasn't lords job to tend plants though Falad ignored that fact very determinedly. It was probably the reason why their staff hadn't made that much objections when they had found her for the first time in the kitchen making food.

Rella also wanted to show him the gardens because then they would have a little time on their own and she wanted to tell him something. Of course she could have told him earlier already, but she hadn't been sure how to break it to him. They had hoped – or at least Rella hoped that Falad had hoped as well – so long for this. She had found out this last night when she had had a bath.

_Rella shivered as she stood next to the big bathtub, more like a pool actually, and dried herself. One of the house's maids had brought her nightgown and a robe for her to the bench next to the pool. She absolutely loved dherr'eshaanian baths. They were so far ahead with plumbing than the rest of the world, which was kind of funny in her opinion since dherr'eshaanians lived in a desert. _

_Rella laid the towel down and pulled her nightgown on. That was when she noticed the cloths that had been provided for her. Rella frowned a little. The maids were usually aware of the menstrual cycle of the ladies they were currently serving, but she did not have a period at the moment. Then she frowned some more. _

_Actually, she was few weeks late._

_Her eyes widened. She was late. And she was feeling sick. She was pregnant!_

When she had gone to their bedroom to tell Falad, her husband had already been asleep and Rella hadn't wanted to wake him up, instead decided to tell him on the next day.

Rella couldn't contain a smile and bit her lip as they walked along the pathways. Falad glanced at her way every now and then, curious about what had made Rella so exited. Rella took a deep breath and made Falad stop.

"_Falad, I have something to tell you"_, Rella began.

Falad looked at his wife worriedly. _"Is something wrong?"_

"_What? No!"_ Rella assured him. _"Nothing bad, I promise. I think I'm pregnant."_

Rella rushed the last bit out of her mouth and couldn't contain a bright smile from spreading on her face. Falad's eyes widened.

"_You mean…"_, Falad gestured towards her stomach and Rella rolled her eyes.

"_Yes, dear. There is a beginning of a life form growing in my stomach and around eight months or so we are going to have a baby_", Rella said to her husband in a lecturing tone all the while holding a smile back.

Falad blinked and stood still staring at her for a moment before he smiled brightly and grabbed Rella from the waist and twirled them around. Rella yelped as Falad lifted her, laughing as they twirled. Falad put her down and held her close kissing her long and deep. After the kiss they stood there forehead against forehead wrapped in each other's arms.

"_Eight months?"_ Falad asked and Rella nodded.

"_Give or take a week."_

Falad smiled a faraway look in his eyes. _"Which one do you think it is?"_

"_I don't know. We'll see it when they are born"_, Rella answered.

"_We need names"_, Falad said.

"_Yanna if the baby is a girl"_, Rella said instantly. _"I've always liked that name."_

Falad chuckled. _"Alright. I'll get to decide the boy's name then."_

Rella grinned and nodded. They stood there awhile, before eventually separating and heading inside and into the glasshouse where Anastasia had decided to keep the dinner. As they walked they talked and planned about the room for the baby, how their families would react (Falad's mother would probably breathe down on her neck the entire pregnancy) and how should they arrange their work with the baby. Rella thought she could easily stay home and work on the illustrations for whatever Falad was working on.

When they arrived to the glasshouse, Anastasia was already there to welcome them. Rella could feel Falad's desire to go and explore the beautiful room and the hundreds of plants it housed. Here there were more exotic plants than in the garden outside. Not many looked familiar to Rella, but these plants seemed to be from tropical rainforests. Anastasia greeted them smiling and blushed slightly when Falad greeted her in a dherr'eshaanian way by raising both of her hands to his lips and giving one of the common compliment phrases. Rella had had much the same reaction when she had been greeted like that for the first time.

"Come, let's sit down", Anastasia said and gestured towards the set table. "Charles hasn't arrived yet but we can start with some drinks."

They sat down and waiters brought their drinks. Anastasia had told Rella that the children would not be joining them since they unfortunately had developed flu's out of nowhere. They didn't need to wait too long before the prince strode into the glasshouse and greeted everyone with a smile on his face. As the prince was raising her hand to his lips, Rella suddenly thought how the touch from the prince no longer did anything. She remembered before, when she had still been here, how she would get this tingly feeling when they touched, but now it did nothing. Rather now she got all tingly when Falad touched her. She supposed it was safe to say that she had gotten over the prince.

The food was delicious as was the wine, though Rella found the elethian wines odd after getting accustomed to the more rich and full-bodied wines of Dherr'eshaan. The conversation flowed smoothly from one matter to another and Rella found that, after watching Anastasia and Charles for awhile, the couple seemed very happy. She knew that it had always been Anastasia's dream to marry the prince and that she had always been head over heels in love with him, but the prince… He had fallen for Rella first and after the happenings before her deportation, he had found out that Anastasia hadn't been the girl from the ball and after missing the ship Rella had been, Rella had always wondered if the prince had been charmed again. But as she watched him now, it appeared that he had eventually fallen for Anastasia. It could be clearly seen that the prince loved his wife and to Rella, it didn't seem like a magically empowered love.

Rella smiled as she sipped her wine and watched them. It appeared that all had ended well despite stepmother's scheming.


	10. Chapter 9

**A/N:** Hi, I'm here again. And once again there has been an awfully long time between my previous post and this one. I really jinxed it last time… Though this chapter was awfully difficult to write for some reason. It is better than I hoped, but I'm still a little unsure about it, but I hope you'll enjoy it anyways. And it's possibly the longest (at least one of the longest) chapter in the story.

9.

Rella stretched her back before bending down back to the sketch she was outlining. They were at the castle with the prince continuing the other agreement and Rella had decided to make some preliminary sketches for the illumination while they talked. Falad and prince Charles were bickering about some small nuance in the wording and Anastasia, who had decided to join them for a change, was making embroidery near the unused fireplace. The other agreement had been drawn and written few days ago and signed by the prince and Falad.

Rella was quite happy how things had turned out with Anastasia. The prince hadn't said or done anything the entire time they had been here, at least so that she could hear, though Rella thought she had seen the prince looking at her carefully a few times. Like he'd try to remember her. Rella really hoped that he wouldn't remember her. She realized that she was being a coward but she really didn't want to face the man she had been in love with six years ago. Though she loved Falad more than anything in the world, more than she had loved the prince, she didn't want to face that man. She much preferred the prince of Elethia with whom they had certain distance between them as a rule.

Sometimes she wondered if the prince had been charmed again by stepmother, but Anastasia had said that he hadn't been. It had taken some time, during which the prince had thought things over before the prince had decided to marry Anastasia anyway, she had told Rella. Anastasia assumed that Charles had liked her, even though her mother had done wrong in charming him, and decided to marry her since there had been next to none possibilities in finding Rella once the ship had left and the entire kingdom was expecting the wedding as it was a high time for him to marry. The prince hadn't loved Anastasia at the beginning, but that had changed. Rella really hoped that Anastasia was right. It would probably kill Anastasia if her mother had done something after all. And truthfully Rella was a little suspicious about it since Jaq and Gus had said when they had met in the servant's corridor that the prince _had_ been charmed again.

Well, it was a bit pointless to wonder about it, when it was really unlikely that anyone would ever ask from stepmother about anything and Anastasia and the prince seemed perfectly happy as they were, Rella decided as she focused on her sketch more closely. She needed to outline the details next and it was always a bit more difficult. The sudden noise of the door opening unannounced by the lackeys startled Rella and caused her to smudge her sketch. Without looking up from her work to see who disturbed them, she proceeded to repair the mistake. She vaguely heard the prince and Anastasia inquire the reason for this intrusion, but Rella didn't actually pay any attention to it until a shadow fell over her and her work.

Rella paused in her work and placed her pen down before raising up her eyes only to freeze into the spot as she met the gaze of her stepmother, who was staring at her very closely and very coldly. Rella heard the prince ask once again why the lady was here and like a spell being broken she noticed being able to move. She straightened her back and met her stepmother's gaze evenly.

"May I help you with something, lady Tremaine?" Rella asked and she was slightly surprised at how even her voice sounded to her ears. The lady didn't answer at once but chose to continue to examine Rella even more closely. It made her feel very uncomfortable which no doubt was lady Tremaine's meaning.

"Yes", lady Tremaine drew out the word slowly. "You could start by telling me why have you returned? _Cinderella_."

For a moment Rella, as did everyone else in the room, froze (not counting the prince though, he merely looked a little confused). Rella was at loss to what to answer to her stepmother or how to react, but after a few seconds Rella raised her eyes to meet lady Tremaine's. She wasn't a scared, little orphan forced to serve her family anymore and as such there was no need for her to cower or submit in front of her stepmother, no matter how intimidating she was.

"To help my husband draw out the trading agreements", Rella answered calmly.

Lady Tremaine narrowed her eyes and the room temperature seemed to decrease slightly as she stared at the impertinent young woman (in her mind at least) in front of her.

"And does your _husband_ know what you really are?" she asked in a low and smooth voice that she always used when she was angry or handled out punishments to her stepdaughter. It used to scare the living daylights out of Rella, but apparently even that had no effect on her anymore. It made Rella feel quite proud of her self.

While Rella and lady Tremaine had been in their staring competition as the lady had asked her accusing question, which made prince Charles even more confused for the situation, Falad had slowly stood up and was now standing next to the women tall and imposing, hands folded across his chest and glaring at the lady with unusually cold eyes.

"Her husband knows quite well what she is", Falad said in a quiet and dangerous voice, with heavier accent than normally due to his suppressed anger. He moved a step closer making lady Tremaine back up a bit and stared down at the woman, who had ruined his beloved Rella's young life. "And he would appreciate it if you would leave and never bother her again."

Other than Falad, who had a very good view from where he stood, no one was able to notice the slight hesitation or a dash of fear that flicked in lade Tremaine's face in the briefest moments before her face was once again a calm and arrogant mask. Rella was feeling touched and a little flustered at her husband's vehement defence on her behalf. She knew she could defend herself if she wanted to, but it warmed her heart that Falad was doing it for her. And she had to admit that he was pretty attractive when he was doing it.

The prince had also stood up and was now approaching them laying a calming hand on Falad's shoulder. "What on earth is going on? Calm down, dear lord, there is no need to get so angry. And what is this talk about Cinderella? Who is she?"

A sound of a sharp intake of breath drew their attention and they turned to look at Anastasia, who looked at the prince with a mixture of confusion , agitation and uncertainty.

"You… you do not remember Cinderella?" she asked with a slightly trembling voice.

…

Anastasia slowly descended back down to the chair she had only moments ago risen. She felt numb, completely and thoroughly shocked and confused as she tried to wrap her mind around the fact that her husband didn't remember her former stepsister. For he should remember, after all once the ship where Cinderella had been had left, the prince had come back to the palace and shut himself straight into the study with his father where they had stayed many hours, talking. Their mother had managed to use the wand only to erase the memories of the wand from the royalties minds. Nothing else, their mother had said so.

She had also told Anastasia that she wouldn't charm the prince anymore, when the prince and his father had reappeared from the study and told them that the prince would get to know Anastasia better, before thinking about marriage that quickly this time. Before getting married to the prince, for that had been her most precious dream ever since she had first seen the prince in a young age, it had been the best time of her life…

"_What a pity the sweet girl proved to be nothing more than a little thief with such a malicious intents. What could have set her off to try and kill my son?"_

"_Oh, I assure you, your Majesty, it was nothing your family has done. The poor child lost her father when she was young and she went a little… off in her head, I suppose you could say. It made her blame the crown for poor health care or something like that. But she has been taken care of…"_

_Anastasia only half listened what her mother was talking with the king, her eyes drawn to the handsome prince who had agreed to spend some time with her once his father had managed to make the prince see reason. They were supposed to get to know each other so that they could eventually marry unless, of course, the prince didn't want to marry her. Which was a terrible thought. _She_ wanted to marry the prince. It would unbearable if the prince wouldn't like her, but she had already decided that she wanted it to happen naturally, if it was to happen, without any intervening from her mother and the wand. She wanted to win the prince by her own merits and besides, it wasn't love if it was enhanced because of magic. Though she might need to do something to her nose and cheekbones…_

_Once her mother was done with the king, they retreated to their quarters where their mother kept a long and tiresome lecture about what Anastasia should and should not do. Anastasia listened dutifully though her mind was miles away on the next day when the prince had promised to come and take her to a walk._

_They took many walk in the palace gardens and sometimes outside the castle on the next three months. The prince also invited her to have lunch or dinner with him every now and then and in the few balls that happened in the three months, he danced with her in all of them. Anastasia had secretly, behind her mother back since she thought that advertising any lack of skills was very bad, took some dancing lessons. She had been well aware that her last dance with the prince had been a disaster and she hadn't wanted to repeat it._

_She also slowly, bit by bit, used the wand to modify her appearance. She wanted to become more beautiful, like Cinderella had been, but realized that she couldn't do it overnight. That would be too much. So she did it slowly, hoping that people would think that she was just growing up still, after all she wasn't that old yet since she was the younger of the sisters. She had tried to do the spell casting without her mother or sister noticing, but was quite sure that at least her mother knew. Who most likely thought it just a good thing as it made Anastasia appear to try to seduce the prince or something rather than try to find love which was something her mother and Drizella didn't understand._

_In addition to those things, she tried to be her own self as the king had encouraged her to be when they had had the talk in the balcony after the horrible dancing. She still held the shell the king had given her as her most precious gift. And whatever it was she was doing seemed to be working as they had amazing time together and prince Charles truly appeared to like her which made Anastasia spin with joy when she was alone in her room (she didn't dare to do it in the presence of her family). During the three months she had gotten flowers every now and then from the prince and a beautiful bracelet she now wore nearly everywhere. Anastasia hoped that these meant that the prince was in fact falling in love with her. _

_Her mother however was not so patient. As the months flew by, Anastasia was more and more frequently assuring lady Tremaine that everything was going alright and that she didn't need to use the wand. She had promised not to use it. And every time Anastasia had assured her mother, she had promised again not to do it. _

So when the prince had quite suddenly after the three months proposed to her, she hadn't thought much of it. She had just been overjoyed that she was getting married with her prince. But now… now the suddenness made frighteningly more sense. Her prince hadn't been ready to propose after all. And now Anastasia felt horrible, she should've listened to her instincts when she had wondered in her wedding day, but in the end she had been too blinded by her happiness. It hurt to think that she had been married to her dear prince for almost six years and very possibly without her beloved truly loving her.

Their marriage was just an illusion!

"You do not remember her, your Highness?" Anastasia heard her mother feigning surprise distantly. "I would have thought you remembered her, your Highness. She was deported, she did try to kill you after all."

"WHAT!" Falad bellowed infuriated by the accusations and astonished by what he was hearing. "How dear you accuse my wife of such a deed! She has never killed a soul in her life! And what proof do you have that she was doing that? _You_ deported her because she stole something from _you,_ not because she had tried to kill anyone!"

Oh dear, it appeared their mother was going to dig everything up to get Cinderella out of the picture, Anastasia thought. Her mother and her prince had backed up a bit in front of the renowned temper of the southern empire and Anastasia could understand them quite well. Rella's husband was looking very frightening at the moment as his anger made his face look like a thunderstorm. Rella was standing behind Falad trying to calm him down, though she didn't appear to be very successful.

Anastasia stood up from her chair again and stepped closer to her mother. "Mother", she said in a loud voice, "stop this. Why do you say such things when they are not true? And why are you bothering Rella at all?"

Lady Tremaine's eyes narrowed in anger. "You ungrateful child", she ground out in a heavy voice, "after everything I did for you to get you this far and this is how you thank me!"

Anastasia looked at her mother incredulously. "You did for me? You did too much, mother! You promised me again and again that you wouldn't charm him again and what did you do! You broke your promise! I wanted to get to know him and I wanted him to get to know me so that he could marry me if he loved me! _Loved_ me, mother! And you ruined it! Now I've been married nearly six years and it's just been one big lie! How could you!"

Now it was lady Tremaine's turn to look incredulous. "You wanted love? Love? Love has nothing to do with marriage, you stupid girl. After three months I could clearly tell that he wasn't going to marry you! I just made sure he _did_!"

"But if he didn't love me, I didn't want to marry him, mother! I don't care what you think about love! I've always wanted to marry for love and you destroyed everything!" Anastasia cried facing her mother.

"Now you listen to me, Anastasia", lady Tremaine said in a low voice. "Stop this nonsense right now. You have already babbled too much, though I suppose it is irrelevant in the grand scheme of thing since I will have to modify the prince's memory again anyhow. I will not have you ruin everything I have gained in these six years."

"No!" Anastasia breathed and rushed to the prince on the side, where the poor man had watched the exchange in growing confusion, and stopped between her mother and her husband. "You will not do anything to him again! Ever!"

Lade Tremaine looked at her daughter unimpressed. "Well, I suppose I do not have any other choice but to charm you as well."

Lady Tremaine pulled the wand from her sleeve and raised it. She never managed to spell her daughter or prince Charles thanks to Rella who had also followed their exchange feeling sad and proud for Anastasia at the same time. As her stepmother prepared to charm the couple, Rella rushed forward despite Falad's attempts to stop her and grabbed her stepmothers arm.

"No! Stop!" Rella shouted and successfully managed to direct the magical sparkles from the wand into the ceiling. Lady Tremaine cried out her frustration and pushed Rella forcefully away from her making her crash on the floor.

Lady Tremaine pointed her wand at Rella. "I may as well take care of you now, you miserable wretch!"

A flash of light from the wand blinded the occupants of the room momentarily suring which a shout of "NO!" could be heard from Falad and lady Tremaine's arrogant chuckle seemed to echo through the room as Rella raised her arms protectively over her stomach. Once the light dissipated, lady Tremaine stared at in front of her surprised, for she wasn't looking at the stone statue of Cinderella, as she had meant, but of her husband Falad who was standing in front of Rella in a defensive pose hand in the handle of his dagger.

"Falad! No!" Rella breathed terrified and scrambled up from the floor before rushing to her husband side. Running her hands over the stone body she stared at him with broken look. Unnoticed by Rella her stepmother was raising the wand for another try, but was once again interrupted, this time by the prince. He had called out the guards and taken a sword that had been hanging on the wall with which he was now trying to make lady Tremaine give up the wand.

He wasn't being very successful though and until the reinforcements arrived, lady Tremaine was quite effortlessly winning. However, once the brigade of guards arrived she was having more and more difficulties keeping them at bay. Despite the wand, she was still an elderly woman and her endurance was no match for young men half her age. So she eventually made the decision to flee and retreat to think her strategies again. With a swish of the wand she had disappeared from the middle of the men.

The prince was steadying his breaths as he assessed the damage and casualties. The room was practically in shambles and third of the guard were statues of stones like lord Falad. Few of the men were hurt, but nobody had died. At least the prince hoped that turning into stone was equal to death and was reversible. His wife and lady Rella were emerging from behind the sturdy desk where Anastasia had dragged the other woman when the fighting started. She rushed straight back to the statue of her husband. His wife was comforting her and what seem like avoiding his gaze.

Some of these happenings seemed strangely familiar and prince Charles steeled his mind as he walked up to his wife and lady Rella. He looked at both of them gravely and slightly desperately. He really wanted some answers.

"Would you mind telling me what on earth is going on in here?"


	11. Chapter 10

**A/N:** A longer time than usual, sorry about that, but you know me already ; )

Thank you for all the reviews and especially to _whitneysixx_ and _grayribbon_ whose reviews during my Christmas Holiday alerted me to the fact that "Hello! It's my holiday! I can actually write something other than school stuff!" So thank you. I've been writing the whole day and got this chapter finally done. Yes! It's been bugging me forever. (I think it's the Prince, he's a hard one to write about…)

But anyways, I hope you'll enjoy the chapter : ) And I hope you all had a fantastic Christmas!

10.

Prince Charles was currently pacing in front of double doors that led to his study where his wife, the stone statue of lord Falad and the lord's wife, lady Rella, were waiting for him to arrive. The room where they had been working on, a small library of sorts, was being repaired and cleaned up and Charles had ordered the statues of the soldiers to be taken into some safe place until it was certain if they would be able to change them back. He really hoped they could, not only because the soldiers' families would be devastated but also because lord Falad's turning into stone could have some serious consequences with Dherr'eshaan.

And they didn't want that. His father had made it very clear when he had been told about this whole fiasco. Charles winced inwardly as he thought about the fit his father had thrown, one of the worst he ever remembered. It also appeared that his father had better memory than he did, the king remembered the girl who supposedly tried to kill him. And he wasn't very happy that she was here. Charles just couldn't understand why he didn't remember it. One would think that something like an assassination attempt would stay in one's mind. In fact he didn't remember lady Rella at all. Of course she did seem somewhat familiar, but he had just thought that he had met a woman who looked similar to the dherr'eshaanian lady, nothing more.

And what really confused him was all the talk about his wife, his beloved and beautiful Anastasia. He loved her and he was pretty sure – no he was absolutely sure – that his wife loved him, so all the talk about Anastasia's mother putting charms and spells over him for Anastasia was unfathomable. He couldn't understand it, why would she need to do this since he loved her. He had fallen in love her deeply when they had learned to know each other after the strange things he no longer remembered correctly. Anastasia had been amazing then, helping him to get over… what exactly? He had forgotten that too?

The thought that Anastasia had been involved in all this was painful and he was torn between a fit similar to his father's and a desire to never to see the woman again. But he couldn't do that. Not until he knew what had happened then, why everything had happened and how it had happened. Perhaps the answers to those questions would also bring more light to Anastasia's actions and if they were what they seemed they were.

The prince shook his head to clear his mind and stopped his pacing. He shouldn't be stalling like this and if his father would see him _pacing_ like this he would be getting a lecture about manners of a prince he hadn't gotten in since he was eleven and caught in nicking apples. He would get his answers, hopefully all of them, when he would go inside his study.

Reaching his hand to open the door, he stepped inside the room and was met with the sight of his wife comforting lady Rella, who was leaning her head against one of her hands. The prince drew a calming breath and approached the ladies closing the door after him. Both of them glanced up as they heard him enter the room and Charles saw a flash of pain in his wife's face before she turned back to lady Rella.

Lady Rella sat up straighter and appeared to be trying to compose herself. After a few moments she was still looking a bit worn and worried, but other than that one couldn't have guessed that she had just moments ago seen her husband turned into stone.

"Are you alright, Rella?" Anastasia asked quietly.

Rella nodded. "I'll manage, thank you."

Prince Charles nodded and drew himself a chair. He leaned against his knees and breathed out a sigh. Lady Rella was watching him expectantly while his wife was staring at her hands looking downright heartbroken. Charles was at loss, he really didn't know where to start. He opened his mouth to speak a few times, but nothing seemed like a good place to start. Finally he sighed annoyed and threw his arms in the air.

"Could you just please tell me what on earth is going on?"

Rella nodded and smiled slightly. "Sure, it is probably best if you hear the whole story."

Charles nodded. "Yes, that would be very nice."

Rella opened her mouth to speak, but Anastasia's hand on her shoulder stopped her. She looked at her stepsister questioningly.

"No, Rella", Anastasia said. "You don't know the whole story."

Rella blinked. "What do you mean?"

"Let me tell you", Anastasia said and started at the first beginning. She talked a long time. She told them how in the first timeline Cinderella and the Prince had been married after the Prince had found Cinderella and how they had been happy, and how she and Drizella had taken to Cinderella's old duties and how their mother had fallen into dark moods constantly cursing Cinderella and how she had ruined everything.

She also told them of their anniversary when she had seen them and found out about the Fairy Godmother and her magic wand which had literally dropped right in front of her. And how she had took it to her mother.

"I really didn't mean it to be used like mother did. I thought, that with the wand we could have made our living conditions a little better and gotten a little more money, so that we could have been better off and maybe eventually finding nice husbands for us too, since Cinderella had married the Prince", Anastasia wiped her eyes and thanked Rella as she held a napkin for her. "I was in love, or at least I had a major crush, with the Prince then already, which is probably why I didn't protest much when mother took the wand ad turned back time."

Rella and Charles' eyes widened.

"She turned back time?" Rella asked faintly.

Anastasia nodded and proceeded to continue the story. She told them how they had returned to the day when the Grand Duke arrived with the glass slipper and how their mother had used the wand to make it fit Anastasia's foot. And how in the palace her mother had used the wand to make the Prince forget Cinderella and think he had danced with Anastasia instead.

"I don't know how, but when mother managed to get Cinderella deported, something happened to make you remember her", Anastasia said to the Prince. "You tried to catch the ship where Cinderella was, but you missed it. And when you returned alone mother was keen on wiping your memory again, but I asked her not to.

"I didn't want to fool people again. I wanted to see if something could come out of our relationship without any magic poking around behind every corner. And I wasn't sure how much magic could be used like that before something bad would come out of it. Because I know there has to be rules and ways that restrict the ways magic can be used. The Fairy Godmother was very worried about that then."

Anastasia dried her eyes again and breathed out a sigh.

"I don't know when mother did something to you with the wand again, Charles. But she has had to, if you do not remember Cinderella. I didn't want her to do that, I wanted to see if we could fall in love with me as the real me. I remember having constantly huge fights with mother about not using any magic on you. I suppose her patience finally ran out one day."

Anastasia sniffled. "And now… I feel like we have been living a lie all this time. And I don't know what to do about it."

Anastasia's voice broke down with the final words and she finally succumbed to her tears long held in during her story. Rella wrapped her arm around her stepsister and tried to comfort her as Charles tried to process what he had just heard. Magical wands, timelines and talking mice? Were those even real or had his wife just lost her mind? Then he frowned. Now that he thought about it, the talking mice sounded awfully familiar for some reason… And lady Rella seemed to believe everything Anastasia said.

Charles looked at Rella with a slightly desperate look. "Lady Rella? Is she telling the truth? All that… it really happened?"

Lady Rella nodded slowly. "Yes, I'd say she's telling the truth. Everything she has said after the… change in time, has gone exactly as she described. In my part at least. And I don't see why she wouldn't be telling the truth about the rest as well."

Charles nodded. He was going to need to do lots of thinking, about Rella, about Anastasia, hell… about everything he supposed. But right now he didn't have the time. They needed to find lady Tremaine and get the wand away from her as quickly as possible. Who knew what the crazy woman would do now that the truth was out and she was hunted for imprisonment. Because that was what she was going to get for everything she had done.

"Where's this Fairy Godmother? Would she be of any help to us?" Charles asked.

Anastasia shook her head. "No, she was turned to a stone statue when… when we took the wand. It was an accident, on my part at least."

"And we need the wand to change anyone back to normal", Rella said.

Anastasia nodded. "Yes."

"Damn", Charles muttered.

They fell silent, thinking. There really wasn't any way for them to find lady Tremaine unless she wanted to be found and as long as she had the wand she had the advantage. But how to get the wand from her?

"She's going to come after me, you know", a cool and collected voice said.

Charles started and whipped his head around to stare at lady Rella. The woman had moved while he had been thinking next to her husband's statue and was now gently stroking her hand over his features. Charles blinked, confused how the petite lady could appear so fragile and at the same time so strong.

"I'm sorry?" Charles said.

"Lady Tremaine. She appears to still have a grudge of some sort against me and from what I saw today, I'd say she's not going to give up or just lay off on me. So it is logical to assume that she will be coming after me eventually. That might be a could moment to catch her", lady Rella explained with calmness that made Charles wonder. From what he knew, not many people could act as calm as lady Rella just did. So how was lady Rella able to, if she was merely a diplomat's spouse excelling in drafting trading agreements?

"You appear very calm about this, lady Rella", Charles commented hiding an inquiry in the tone of his voice.

Lady Rella merely inclined her head and turned back to her husband. As she turned, Charles was able to her hand was gripping her small dagger so tightly, that her knuckles had turned white. Then it hit Charles. She was mad, no, furious. Furious enough not to be afraid, or perhaps she was already beyond fear.

He would need to tread carefully here. And get her to stay in the palace, where she could be kept safe and where they could keep an eye on her so that she wouldn't go and do something foolish.

"Lady Rella, perhaps you should stay here until we have apprehended lady Tremaine", Charles suggested. "It might be safer."

Lady Rella let out a morose chuckle. "Well, it's a good thing Falad cannot hear you now. He would be most insulted by that comment."

Charles coughed a bit embarrassed. "My apologies, my lady."

"It's alright, Your Highness. I think it is a good idea for me to stay here too. The dherr'eshaanian temper is a fiery one, it might be wiser to apprehend my stepmother here rather than in the embassy", lady Rella answered. "But before that, I must go and retrieve some personal items from there."

"Are you sure that some of the servants couldn't do that?"

"They might not get through the gates, and certainly not without a lots of questions", Rella said. "And I believe that you would not want them to know why I'm staying here."

Charles blinked. "You do have point."

Lady Rella nodded and glanced at her husband's statue. "Could he be moved to the quarters I'll be staying?"

Prince Charles nodded. "Of course."

Lady Rella nodded her thanks and exchanged a few more encouraging words with Anastasia before she departed to go to the embassy. As she went, Charles shook his head in slight confusion. What a strange woman. He really couldn't imagine himself being in love with her. Though to be fair, every time he tried, he got the very clear mental image of lord Falad and his very good aim with the musket…

The whole journey in the carriage had been agony. She had wanted to scream and hit and kick things, throw them too. Of course she couldn't do that in the carriage. There wasn't anything to hit or kick or throw. And the screaming might have spooked out the driver.

At truth to be told, Rella was a little confused. Her icy and sharp rage in the palace had suddenly morphed into this huge desire to break something, anything. She had never felt anything like it. She had only ever been once as furious as she was being today and then it had been that icy rage from the palace. Not this.

As soon as the carriage had arrived to the embassy, Rella had shortly instructed the driver to wait for her and then stormed through the embassy into their rooms where she had locked herself in for a moment and finally let out a scream of rage and desperation. She had also thrown a vase (it hadn't looked too valuable) into the wall, just to see if it helped.

It had helped a little.

Now Rella was putting together a small package of some more important items that couldn't be sent to her later to the palace with her maid who would follow her with the rest of her things. They had tried to offer her coffee, but it only brought Falad into her mind, so she had declined. No need to lose her composure in front of everyone. Since everything was alright in their point of view.

Which reminded her, she needed to pack up some of Falad's things as well, so that it would look like they were both spending a few nights at the palace. As she asked Corra to pack Falad's things as well, Rella went to his desk near the windows. She could take some papers of his with her and see if she could distract herself with some work.

As she stepped up to the desk, her eyes fell into Falad's musket and pistol he had been cleaning up on the previous day. Rella blinked and then she thought.

"Corra, pack Falad's guns as well, would you."


	12. Chapter 11

**A/N: **Hello again! And finally I have another chapter up. This time I'll have to thank _I Am Your Singer_ for reminding me about a character (or two) that I had embarrassingly enough managed to forget. And I recommend that you go and check out his story _Someone To Love Me_ which has the same scenario as my story, but focuses on the happenings immediately after. It is really good.

So, on with the chapter. Not that much happening this time, they're having a bit of a break for a moment ;) I hope you enjoy!

* * *

11.

Grand Duke Robert Van Foray leaned back on his seat as he watched the scenery from the window of his carriage. Despite the fact that travelling was tiring business, not to mention to a man of his age, after all he wasn't a young chap anymore, he always enjoyed it. His carriage was his little sanctuary from all the going on's of the outside world giving him a welcome respite between battles with foreign dignitaries, the staff of the royal castle, the king… Practically with anyone truth to be told. Of course he did have his own estate, but as he didn't have much of a family, it felt quite empty whenever he visited there. And yes, mostly he just visited there, since his duties to the royal family kept him in the castle most of the time. He even had an own suite there, all for himself. And not that he wanted to brag, but it was grander than of that blasted incredibly annoying woman's who just happened to be the Princes mother-in-law. So he couldn't even get rid of her. Nothing was ever good enough for that woman. Which was why, he had kept quiet about his living conditions and never invited the princess' family to his quarters.

The Grand Duke sighed happily. He was waiting eagerly for the return to the castle for a change. That woman would be gone for a month or three as she visited her other daughter in a neighboring kingdom. He pitied the prince who had agreed to marry princess Anastasia's sister. The woman should have left on her journey yesterday, which suited well with his schedule. His next trip would be in about three months, right before that woman came back again. This fact made him ever so happy. It almost felt like a holiday.

He shook his head as he thought about the lady. He could not understand for the life of him how such a lovely young lady as princess Anastasia could have such a… woman as her mother. They were like from different worlds completely. Where the princess was kind and caring and smiling, the mother was the opposite, unkind, cruel, never thinking anyone could be of higher status than her. The Grand Duke suspected that she even thought herself higher than the king himself.

The day was bright and sunny and the castle seemed to almost glitter as he caught sight of it when they turned towards the castle. They drove through the town and the Grand Duke spied the people on their way as they passed them. A breeze carried delicious smells from the bakery nearby and the Grand Duke made a mental note to send someone to pick up some scones for him. Mrs. Lane's baking was the best he had ever tasted anywhere and he had been a regular customer for her for years. She always saved the best of the batch for him.

The Grand Duke sighed contentedly as they pulled over in front of the Castle stairs. He got out of the carriage and signaled to the footman to deliver his belongings to his quarters. Then he straightened out his uniform and tucked his hat to the crook of his arm. He ascended the stairs in a brisk pace and walked through the large doors that the armed guard opened up for him. He wondered why the doors were closed. Normally, in a day like this, they would be open. The Grand Duke shrugged his shoulders and thought nothing of it.

Now, he just needed to locate His Majesty and give his repor-

The Grand Duke blinked as he stopped taking in the sight that met him in the entrance hall. A regiment of guards seemed to be carrying statues of stone from the upstairs. And what strange statues they were. They weren't in any positions you might expect from statues, no standing and looking to the distance with great feeling or perhaps courageously facing whatever the statue might have been facing. Instead some of the statues appeared to be lying or in the middle of a strike of a sword or, in some cases, hands held protectively in front of them. And their clothing and weaponry was incredibly accurate work and what even stranger, they seemed to be the standard uniforms and weapons of the palace guard.

The Grand Duke noticed Miss Prudence ordering the soldiers around and headed towards her. He had a bad feeling about all of this. He stopped next to her and they stood silently, side by side for a moment looking at the soldiers carrying the statues through the entrance hall. Then the Grand Duke sighed.

"Do I even want to know?"

Miss Prudence pursed her lips. "I highly doubt it, Your Grace."

The Grand Duke sighed even deeper. "I was afraid of that."

xXx

Rella walked through the Mirror Hall smoothing out her skirts at the same time checking her reflection from the mirrors. It really wouldn't do for anyone to notice any strange shapes within her skirts.

She sighed as she exited the Hall. The events of yesterday still haunted her and made her feel angry, frightened and sad at the same time. She missed Falad something terrible. She knew she would manage on her own perfectly well, but she still hoped that Falad were here comforting her, his steady presence with his fiery temperament always made her feel so much better.

She had been cooped up in her quarters since she came back to the Castle yesterday and now she wanted a little bit of fresh air. They were similar with Falad that way. They both felt it easier to think when outside. That was why they often at home did their work in their garden or in the balconies of their small manor.

Rella stepped outside to the gardens and inhaled deeply. It may not be her home's gardens but they would do. She picked a path at random and set a peaceful pace for her to stroll and let her mind wander freely. She wasn't allowed to keep to her thoughts for long, though. As she was coming up to the crossing of two paths, she nearly run over by two happily shrieking children. Or rather, the other was shrieking happily, the other seemed to be quite put out as he tore after his sister.

"Leopold, Elaiza! Slow down!"

Rella stopped as she heard Anastasia and waited for her to reach the crossing. She was carrying Richard in her arms and trying to see where her two older children had gone off to. Rella smiled and pointed her to the right direction joining her and Richard. Rella observed her stepsister as they walked. She appeared to be feeling better compared to yesterday when she had been quite distraught.

"Have you talked with the Prince?" Rella had to ask.

Anastasia smiled a small but a happy smile. "Yes. We had a long talk this morning. We decided to try to see how we are going to work now that mother has revealed what she has. To see if he really does love me."

Rella smiled. "That's great! Though, I do think that he does love you. Really."

Anastasia smiled in thanks and adjusted Richard in her arms. Richard was babbling incoherently and happily as they watched Leopold and Elaiza play near a small fountain. The women sat down at the edge.

"What about you, Rella?" Anastasia asked looking at her worriedly.

Rella shrugged. "I'll manage. I miss Falad already, though. I want your mother found so that we can change him and everyone else back."

Anastasia nodded. "I understand. I can't imagine what it's like having to see your loved one in stone. I don't think I could live with that if it were to happen to Charles."

Rella smiled faintly. "Right now I'm clinging into the hope, that we'll get the wand. If we don't… I don't know then."

Anastasia rested her hand on Rella's shoulder in silent support. "We'll get the wand. I know we will."

Rella smiled at her gratefully. If there was something about this trip she liked, it was the fact that she and Anastasia had manage to become great friends. She was about to answer her when Elaiza came upon them. She was looking very serious as she stopped in front Rella and her mother.

"Mommy", she started gravelly. "I tink you need to come quickly. Leo went to the wivew and now all the fishies is goin to eat him."

Rella and Anastasia blinked.

"All the fishies?" Anastasia asked.

Elaiza nodded. "Even the fwogs."

The women look at each other and burst out laughing. Elaiza frowned delicately.

"Dat's not fun, is it?"

Anastasia shook her head. "No, no, sweetie. Of course not."

Then she laughed a bit more as she held her hand for the little girl to take. "Let's go save your brother from the underwater life."

Still laughing the group led by the little princess strode towards the little river where the young prince apparently had been ambushed by the fish.

xXx

The Tremaine Manor was bustling with soldiers. They had been ordered to look for the Lady Tremaine and a stone statue of an old woman. This last order was slightly confusing to them. What made this project even more strange was that the Prince himself was here, looking at their side with the Grand Duke trying to inform him of the most un-prince like behavior.

Which the Prince naturally ignored.

The Lady of the house was not found, but the stone statue was discovered quite quickly and the Prince and the Grand Duke went to the back yard to see the Fairy Godmother whose wand was causing so much trouble at the moment. The Grad Duke had been brought up to speed by the Prince when they had been riding to Manor and had been cursing about getting up at all that day ever since. Magic wands and Fairy Godmothers? Really now?!

They came to the statue and The Duke looked at it carefully. There was an old woman in a large-sleeved robe standing on a podium. She looked like she was trying to reach for something or perhaps stop something.

The Prince had cocked his head to the side. "Huh. She looks like a sweet granny."

The Duke blinked. "Yes, Your Highness. I suppose she does."

The Grand Duke motioned some of the soldiers to come and start moving the statue to the Castle. It would be better kept there with the other statues once they got the wand back. The Prince and the Grand Duke stepped back to give the soldiers more space to work and left to circle around the house once more. Perhaps they had missed something. A clue, maybe, that would tell if Lady Tremaine had been here.

However, no matter how they looked nothing indicated that she would have been in the house during the last two days. Around the clock guard was ordered before the Prince ordered everyone to return to the Castle. Before leaving the Prince glanced at the Manor once more. He could have sworn he had felt like someone had been watching them.

xXx

A figure deep in the shadows watched as the soldiers left and the ones that remained set up rounds for themselves. With a hissed curse the figure disappeared with a swish of a wand and somehow the shadowy corner no longer seemed so dark.

* * *

**A/N: **A bit short chapter this time, I know.


End file.
